


Enemies with Benefits

by A_Writer_of_Whimsy



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Autobots - Freeform, Barricade is Happy to Be Here, Cable Sex, Consensual Sex, Cybertronian and Human Relations, Decepticons - Freeform, Doggy Style, F/M, Fingerfucking, Gearshift Sex, Masturbation, Mikaela Banes Gets the Sex She Deserves, Multi, Oral Sex, Other, Praise Kink, Spanking, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, yes it is that kind of fic, you read that right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:47:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 35,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23117197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Writer_of_Whimsy/pseuds/A_Writer_of_Whimsy
Summary: Mikaela Banes broke up with Sam, and a certain police cruising Decepticon wants to show her a new world of possibilities.
Relationships: Mikaela Banes/Barricade, Mikaela Banes/Sam Witwicky
Comments: 41
Kudos: 123





	1. Rebound

Mikaela Banes owned her own business by the age of twenty two, and Sam Witwicky never showed up to the grand opening. “The Forge” was a modest little garage, set up more for very intricate and glamorous customizing options than her father’s transmission repair shop. Mikaela smiled with joy as she cut the red ribbon. 

“And we’re open!” she announced. 

Everyone clapped and cheered. Mikaela put the scissors on a nearby table. Her friends from high school, Kayla and Danni, helped get the ribbon off the ground and on the table. 

Besider her, Miles popped open a bottle of cheap champagne and dowsed both of Sam’s parents. Judy laughed and tried to dodge, while Ron tried to get some to top off his tiny plastic glass. Leo Spitz grabbed another bottle and shook it. The two boys chased each other off towards the back. 

“Not on the equipment! Oh, whatever.” Mikaela rolled her eyes and gave up. 

She peered out at the parking lot, waiting for Ironhide to bring back Sam from his study abroad tour. He switched majors from astrology to archeology, to better study the effects of Cybertronian influences on Earth. The government paid for his classes now, including this trip. 

He should’ve arrived an hour ago. 

Her father interrupted her worrying. Cal Banes moved over to hug his daughter, his beard actually nicely trimmed for once. He wore his best and least stained button up flannel for the occasion. 

Mikaela was a little done up. She had on a long black dress with a silver corset she'd had her eye on for a while on Amazon. It fit her well, just enough to be snug but not too tight to be uncomfortable. Her Dad getting all snazzy was rarer than her getting prettied up, though. 

Mikaela kissed him, whispering in his ear, “We did it.”

“You did it, kiddo.” Cal told her as he moved back a little. “Between the two of us, it was always you who was goin’ somewhere.” 

Mikaela moved back and Judy Witwicky came in to steal another hug. “Honey, this is so amazing! I’m so proud of you.” 

Mikaela blushed and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “Thanks, it’s definitely a lot, but I think in comparison to other things...ya know, I think I can handle it.” 

“Yeah," Judy whispered at her, "big giant robot wars, car garage? I think you got this.” Judy patted her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder, as if expecting Sam to be right there. “And I’m sure Sam is, too. I don’t know what’s keeping him.” 

“Yeah, he said he’d be here at four.” Mikaela pulled out her phone, but there were no messages or calls. She put it back. “I’ll give him another ten minutes.” 

Ron was tapping away on his cell. “Way ahead of you, I’m gonna ask him to pick up some beers for the guys.” 

Judy stomped after him. “Ron, the doctor said no!” 

Miles came over to Mikaela with a big knife and a plate. “Come on! Let’s cut into the cake. It looks awesome!” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes again but took the knife away from the hazard that was Miles. Leo walked over to the yellow Camero sitting out in front of the garage and leaned in to no doubt make a song request. Bumblebee started playing “Shots” from his speakers at high volume. 

The cake was a big car that looked very similar to a certain incognito scout. Mikaela cut into it and started handing out slices to everyone. There were potluck foods and pizzas lined up off to the side, too, but everyone seemed to really be after the cake. Cal’s buddies congratulated her, and of course offered their help should she ever need it. 

In her pocket, her phone rang and buzzed. Mikaela stepped aside to answer it, thinking it was Sam. 

“Hello?” Mikaela heard nothing on the other end. “Hello?” She checked her screen, but it said CALLER UNKNOWN. “Hey, who is this? Are you trying to find the party?...Sam?” 

Click. The call disconnected. Mikaela’s brow furrowed. “Weird.” 

She quickly tapped and hit Sam in her contacts. She waited through the ringing, but it went to voicemail. “Hey, it’s ya boy Sam! I’m probably dying in the library. Leave me a message, I’ll call you back!” 

Mikaela whispered into the phone, “Hi, you’re really late. Your Dad tried to call, too. If it was you who just tried to call me, it’s ok I’m not mad or anything. I’m just worried.” She bit on her lip and shifted from side to side. “Are you ok? I just need to know if you’re ok.” 

As she ended the call, Mikaela walked back to the party. Her friends from high school arrived, bringing more food and more drinks. She let herself get lost in the commotion for an hour, even with the nagging sensation that something just wasn’t right. Her phone buzzed again in her pocket, and she was quick to pick up. 

“Hello?” 

Static. 

“Hello? Sam?” Mikaela shouted into the phone. “Hello? Who is this?” 

A high pitched screech nearly deafened her. Mikaela dropped the phone and clasped at her ear. “Ow!” 

“Honey?” Judy ran over to her. “What happened? Are you alright?” 

Mikaela pointed to her phone. “My phone just-I don’t know-It just suddenly screamed at me-.” 

Judy picked up the phone and walked over to Bumblebee. “Nuh-uh, not today Satan!” She pulled open the door and tossed the phone inside the Camero. “Bee, figure out what’s goin’ on with Mikaela’s phone! This is supposed to be a fun day.”

Bumblebee flashed his brights and the radio crackled on with, “I got chu babe!” 

Mikaela was about to say something when Ironhide pulled into the parking lot. She jogged up with a smile on her face. Captain Lennox came out of Ironhide’s passenger side, as did Sara. 

Mikaela froze. “Where’s Sam?” 

Lennox walked up with a frown on his face. “He said he’d beat us here. He’s with Carly in the Maserati.” 

Mikaela heard the name, and her world spun for a moment. “Carly...The woman he met at the White House?” 

“Yeah,” Lennox’s frown went deeper, “why?” 

Mikaela shook her head. “Nothing.” She walked back to the party, her heart breaking a little with each step. She could call and call, but just like always. 

She would do anything for him, but he’d never show up for her. 

* * *

It was well after the party was over that Judy came over to her. Judy looked understandably pissed as she handed her phone over to Mikaela. She mouthed, "Give him hell." 

Mikaela didn't really feel like yelling. She just wanted to know why. She put the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"

"Jesus, Mikaela, hey I'm so sorry. Carly brought me home so I could take a shower and I wanted to just take a nap. I slept through my alarm like an absolute idiot. I'm so sorry, I'll come over now." 

Mikaela watched as everyone piled in their cars to go home. "It's all over, Sam."

"Yeah, but-shit, I meant to be there. I did. Carly is still downstairs. We can be there in ten minutes, just wait-."  
  
"Carly is still there?" Mikaela gulped down, trying to fight through the tightening of her throat.

"Whoa, wait, it's not like that! She slept downstairs on the couch. Nothing happened!"

Mikaela shook her head. "Don't come over. Just don't."

"Mikaela, babe, I swear, nothing is going on, I love you, please. Let me just come over and I'll give you the souvenir I bought, and we can just relax, ok?"

"No, don't come over, Sam. I'm done. I'm just done." Mikaela tapped END CALL and the tears started to flow. She walked over to Judy and gave her phone back. 

"I can't. I just can't right now." Mikaela turned around and headed back to the garage. 

Bumblebee transformed into robot mode. Ironhide grumbled something in Cybertronian at him before transforming as well. Sara and Will shook their heads and made stop motions at him. 

Bumblebee glared at him before kneeling to say to Mikaela, "He's not lying. He wouldn't do that to you. He's an idiot, but he's not that kind of idiot."

Mikaela rubbed at her eyes. "It doesn't matter. He's with her all the time, Bee, and he's never with me. He wasn't with me before, either. He's there for the whole world, but not for me." 

Ironhide grumbled. "She's got a bit of a point there." 

Bumblebee pointed at him. "Don't! Let her get her own thoughts out there before you chime in-."

"Bee, I love Sam, just as I love any of our human charges, but he needs to learn what's important to him if he wants to keep it." Ironhide kneeled down to face Mikaela. "This is great work you've done, and it's a shame you are hurting on a day that should be full of celebration."

Sara walked over and squeezed Mikaela's shoulder. "Men can be dumb, sometimes, but if it's more than once, if it's a lot? Maybe you should consider at least taking a break."

Bumblebee made a small whining noise. "No, Mikaela, he really does love you."

"But it's not enough." She said, and she realized she meant it. "Loving someone without putting the work in? It's just not enough."

Ironhide nodded sagely. "Then, you know what must be done."

* * *

Mikaela broke up with Sam the next day. Sam tried to explain himself, again, “Nothing happened! I just made a mistake, ok? Please, it was a long flight-.” 

She stood there in his room, the same one she’d tried to help him find the glasses, the same room they would spend hours together talking about his college plans, the same room she let him awkwardly toss her down on her back and have sex in his awful, scratchy sheets. 

“You didn’t call me on my birthday.” Mikaela reminded him. “You were at some college networking party, I think. You didn’t come to see me when I was learning from Ratchet, and I know you were on the base that same week, Sam.” She sighed and shook her head. 

“I can’t do this anymore.” 

It didn’t really matter, by that point. 

She left the house, ignoring him calling out to her. Judy stopped him from following her out. 

“Sam, don’t, give her some space.” 

“But Mom! She’s just gonna walk away!” 

She didn’t hear the response as she moved towards the street. Mikaela wiped her tears away with the back of her long sleeves. It was December, and she’d planned to spend the winter break with her boyfriend. 

Not anymore. 

Bumblebee pulled out from the garage and popped open his side door. “Need a ride, little lady?” his radio clip asked. 

Mikaela shook her head. “Gotta get my bike home, Bee. But thanks.” She put her helmet on and straddled her motorcycle. As she sped off towards home, she took the long way, needing to think over everything.

* * *

Barricade found her along the highway. He followed behind, not wanting to show off his appearance just yet. He saw and heard the debacle of the breakup from afar. He’d been following the humans and the scout for a long while, ever since the whole Egypt defeat. 

Technically, he wasn’t ordered to do it, but he took the initiative anyways. He changed his outward paint job every week, and his hologram hard-light form also changed every so often. Perhaps or perhaps not, he might’ve changed his appearance to be in line with the men Mikaela may or may not have called attractive on her Facebook. 

Ok, fine, he might’ve been a bit...impressed...with the fleshy female’s bravery and strength. As a Decepticon, it was only natural to be somewhat attracted to someone (organic or otherwise) who had the bearings to stand up to him. He had been angry about Frenzy for a hot second, but the little devil was re-made by Soundwave and sitting back in his compartment again. 

With a flash, he returned to the police cruiser from their first meeting. He hit the lights and pulled up closer. Mikaela looked over her shoulder for a second before flashing her turn signal. They both pulled off to the side of the road. Barricade turned to look and see his projection in the mirror. 

He didn’t quite understand the fascination with high cheekbones, but he had them. His eyes were a bright ruby, something he knew was unnatural for a human, but he wanted to keep something of his Decepticon traits. His hair was a short, cropped black on top with shaven sides, a military cut. His police uniform was ripped straight off of a “Hottest Police Men Of Mission City” calendar, which meant it was ridiculously tight. He smirked at himself before opening the door. 

Mikaela already had her helmet off and was looking through her bag. She probably suspected he was a regular cop. License and registration, like he cared. 

“Afternoon, Mikaela Banes.” Barricade had never been very good at playing games. That was more Starscream’s thing. 

Mikaela’s eyes snapped up to his. She clenched her hands into fists and swung her leg over her bike, putting it between them. 

“What do you want, Decepticreep?” 

“Haha, haven’t heard that one before.” Barricade rolled his avatar’s eyes. “I heard you broke up with the boy.” 

“How did you know about that?” Mikaela crossed her arms over her chest. “Still spying on us, huh?” 

Barricade shrugged. “Not in a professional sense.” 

“So just in a stalker sense, then?” Mikaela put her hands on her hips. “And why would you care if I broke up with Sam?” 

Barricade leaned forward, letting his hands rest on the bike. “Because you deserve better than Ladysman217.” 

Mikaela blanched at the username, but recovered quickly. “And so, what? You?” 

Barricade shrugged. “Why not?”

Mikaela threw her arms up in the air. “Are you joking? You tried to kill us! You’re still trying to kill us! I’ve seen the reports from Ratchet and Ironhide.” 

Barricade grinned at her. “Keeping tabs on me, stalker?” 

Mikaela pointed a finger at him. “That is not the same thing, and you know it!” She shook her head. “And the answer is, no! Hell no! Just no. Breaking up with Sam does not mean I’m going to...I don’t even know, date you?” 

Barricade walked slowly around the bike. “Dating...how cute. No, I don’t want to date you.” Mikaela didn’t budge from her spot, still holding her space, refusing to let him intimidate her. “I want you to get inside, and let me show you a good time.” 

Mikaela tilted her head up high. “Not gonna happen.” 

“No one even has to know.” Barricade said, bringing his projected hand up to move a bit of hair out of her face. “And I’d treat you right, Mikaela, if you’d let me. I’m very generous.” 

“No thanks,” Mikaela sneered at him, “go suck on an exhaust pipe.” She moved to grab her helmet. “Unless you’re going to force me-.” 

“Never.” Barricade shook his head in disgust.

“Then, let me go.” Mikaela put her helmet on, “accidentally” kicked Barricade out of the way, and drove off. 

* * *

Mikaela laid on her bed in the loft above her garage. She stared at the ceiling, wondering. How would that even work? Could it even work? She rolled over in bed. She knew about interfacing, Ratchet explained the various kinds to her, more than once…

So would he have just used his hard hololight projection? Would he have used cables? Both? 

Her curiosity was getting the better of her, and she knew it. Sitting up, she walked over to her desk. She opened a compartment underneath, and brought out a miniature version of a Cybertronian datapad. Ratchet gave it to her as a present ages ago when she learned about basic Cybertronian repairs. 

She searched in the Query field for “interfacing with organics.” To her surprise, she received more than a few answers. When she tapped on the first result, her jaw dropped, and she tilted her head to the side. 

“I can never unsee this,” she said to no one. 

She read through the next few, which were a little less raunchy and descriptive (THANK GOD), but it still didn’t really answer her question about human and Cybertronian lifeforms. Would they be at all compatible? Barricade seemed to think so, but he was a degenerate and the enemy. 

Mikaela sighed. “Guess it’s time to ask the pro.” 

She tapped for the direct line to Ratchet, pinging him for a call. Without much waiting, Ratchet’s gravely voice came over the line. 

“Hey, Mikaela! I heard about you and the boy. So sad to hear, but it’s all quite understandable.” Ratchet asked, “How are you feeling?” 

Mikaela sighed. “I feel a bit...frazzled actually.” She moved back to her bed and sat cross legged. “I have something to kind of report.” 

“Oh?” 

“I was, uh, I guess propositioned today by none other than Barricade for, um, I guess an interface?” Mikaela winced. That sounded so weird to say, but there it was. 

“WHAT?!” Ratchet’s voice nearly blew out the speaker. There were a few spats of static and Cybertronian curses before Ratchet remembered to switch back to English, “Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you, did he? Why didn’t you call us?” 

“Bee’s got my phone. It was acting weird yesterday, but anyway, no I’m not hurt. He has apparently been stalking Sam and I for a long time. He caught me as I was going home.” Mikaela looked around her room, newly designed and made to keep out any attacks from Decepticons. Optimus Prime helped in its creation, helped to pay for the reinforced steel. She was safe, and the alarm system went to both the police and the Autobots. 

It just looked like an ordinary bedroom to the untrained eye. She had her posters up of Lacuna Coil and Halestorm, a silver corvette she always wanted, and the odd knick-knicks she collected from her time with the Autobots the government allowed her to keep. 

“I’m safe, I’m home and the doors are all locked up,” she said to Ratchet. 

“Good, well, I shall tell Optimus immediately. We’ll see about getting you a guardian of your own, as soon as we can.” Ratchet grumbled. “I would volunteer but I doubt I’d be allowed.” 

“It’s fine, Ratchet, really.” Mikaela wrapped her arms around her knees. “He was pushy, but he let me go.” 

“Uh huh, but I’ve no doubt he’ll try again. Persistent little bugger.” Ratchet let out a few grumbles in Cybertronian before he said, “Keep the datapad on you. At the very least, we can have your location should something happen.” 

“Right,” Mikaela nodded. “Will do.” 

“Is that all, then?” 

Mikaela paused. She considered letting it go, just forgetting about it, but this was Ratchet. He brought up “mating” and “interfacing” as if it was just a casual Sunday topic all on his own. 

She let out a long breath and asked, “How...would it work? A Cybertronian and a human? We can’t interface...can we?” 

Ratchet chuffed. “With a little imagination, a human and a Cybertronian can interface, although I wouldn’t recommend it for a multitude of reasons.” 

Mikaela sat up and gripped the tablet hard. “What? But we’re so much smaller than you, and we don’t have cables for a feedback loop, and-.” 

“Hold on, hold on,” Ratchet grumbled, “I’ll send you a few files to review. We’ve had relations with organic species before.” 

“I read a few of the cases in the datapad, but they didn’t look, uh...feasible.” 

Ratchet chuckled. “Oh, I’ve no doubt.” 

Mikaela saw the files pop up on her screen. She tapped on them and gasped. “Oh, good, you gave me diagrams-WHOA!” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “How even would you-? A gearshift?” 

Ratchet laughed. “Like I said, with a little imagination. The long and short of it would be yes, cables, holoprojection, and being very careful of charge. Humans cannot have a large electrical surge, or your tiny hearts stop. Spiking would be very much out of the question. Even if one of us subspaced significant mass, spikes aren’t intended to be in such delicate tissues. That about answer the question?” 

Mikaela’s eyes widened as she looked at picture after picture. “Have you...ever?”

“Not with a human, no, but I’ve interfaced with a few species in the galaxy that weren’t Cybertronian. The methods are all generally the same.” Ratchet’s voice went very firm. “But Mikaela, if you want to try this, I would highly recommend it be with an Autobot. Decepticons are not known for being careful or thoughtful when interfacing with non-Cybertronians, especially organics.” 

“Ok, got it.” Mikaela licked her lips. “Right, I was just curious in the first place.” 

“Well, now you know.” Ratchet groaned. “Oh great, I have to go to another stupid meeting. I’ll grab Optimus for a debrief when I get the chance. Goodbye Mikaela, stay safe.” 

“Love you, too, Ratch. Bye.” 

* * *

The next day, Mikaela rubbed at her bloodshot eyes while she worked on outlining a detailed sakura in the wind design for a client. All around her, a mix of her dad’s old buddies and new employees worked on getting their first projects done. All around, there were sheets of color getting passed, dents getting popped back into place, and spray paint spritzing. 

The client who ordered the sakura on his car was a sixteen year old dude with too much money and watched too much anime for his own good, but he didn’t order a half-naked waifu to lay about on his hood so there was that. The job would take another ten plus hours of work to get the exact gradations of white, pink, and red he wanted. 

Danni, the front desk worker, came over to tap her on her shoulder. “You’ve got a visitor.” 

Mikaela put her tools down and stood up. She walked over with Danni to find Sam with a bouquet of flowers and downcast eyes. With a sigh, she walked over to stand in front of him. 

Sam walked up and held out the flowers. “I’m sorry, I fucked up, majorly.” 

Mikaela crossed her arms and took a step back. “I’m not taking you back, Sam.” She shook her head. “I can’t.” 

“Wait, wait, I…” Sam groaned and wiped a hand over his face. “Ok, ok, I get it. I just, after everything we’ve been through, I don’t want this to end over a fight, I really don’t.” 

“It’s not just this fight.” Mikaela felt tears well up in her eyes. “From the moment you went off to college, it’s like pulling teeth to get you to just be there. I would go halfway across the world for you, I would fight for you, but Sam you’re with another girl driving around instead of being with me.” Mikaela put her hands up to stop him. “Yeah, yeah, you keep saying nothing happened, but something did happen: You broke my heart.” 

Sam shook his head. “I shouldn’t have been riding around with Carly. I should’ve been there. I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. I get it. I will be there for you, for us, I promise. Just give me another shot, Mikaela, please.” 

“No, Sam.” Mikaela shook her head and turned away. “Leave me alone.” 

She heard Danni telling him to leave the flowers with her. She turned around to see Sam walking back to Bumblebee, head hung low and shoulders slouched. Mikaela wanted to run out to him, to turn him around and forgive him all over again. 

Instead, she held the pain close and went back to work. It wasn’t until much later she saw the tear streaks in the grime on her face. 

After closing hours, a silver corvette rolled into the parking lot. Mikaela rolled her eyes seeing Sideswipe do a donut just for kicks before pulling in up front. His hololight projector avatar jumped out of the car and jogged over to her with something in his hand. Sideswipe looked like a cross between Zac Efron and Channing Tatum, but his azure eyes were a little too bright to be human. 

“We took a look at your phone, and nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing weird or wrong with it.” He held it out to Mikaela, who clasped it. 

“Thank you-Ahh!” 

Sideswipe pulled her in close. “Ya know, I heard someone is interested in a little Cybertronian play.” 

“Oh, get off!” Mikaela batted him away from her. “I was curious and asked about it. What are you, tapping into Ratchet’s comm link?” 

“Just pretending to be in recharge in the medbay, actually.” Sideswipe slid over to her again. “I’m just sayin’, I offer my services to deepening the Autobot and human relations.” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes so hard she nearly lost vision. “Will you all just STOP! I just ended a relationship.” 

Sideswipe shrugged. “I believe what I’m offering is more in line with what humans call ‘rebound sex.’ Cybertronians don’t tend to bond often, especially not during eons of war. It’s all casual, baby.” He winked at her. 

Mikaela shook her head. “Thanks for the phone, I’m good, see you, bye!” She stuck up her middle finger as she hit the button to close the garage. 

* * *

The dream started off tame at first. Mikaela was lounging about in bed, reading on her datapad. Suddenly, a body cleaved into her from behind. Mikaela moaned as the back of her neck was kissed, nipped, and then fully bitten into. She put the datapad off to the side. 

As she let the body behind her caress her back, her body morphed. Skin was plating, and the hands turned into metal servos. Fingers were getting into her seams, playing with protoform. She snapped away her valve cover, and something hard rubbed between her legs. She moaned again. 

“Please,” she said, “I need…” She cried out as the form behind her spiked her, hard. “Yes, please, love, I need you.” 

She couldn’t move, pinned between the berth and the mech behind her. She could feel him moving, pumping his hips, demanding she take him. She took it all, letting him claim every last bit of her inside.

“Megatronus, don’t stop!” 

Mikaela woke up as she orgasmed. 

She gasped quietly to herself, “Holy shit.” She sat up, looking around, but of course no one was there. She shuddered as she came down from her high, still coming around nothing inside of her, it almost hurt. 

On shaky legs, she moved to the bathroom just across the small hallway. She cleaned herself up a bit, not wanting to sleep in her own come-Jesus, how and why did that happen? 

Mikaela blamed Sideswipe, and Barricade, and Ratchet! They all put ideas in her head, and now she was tainted forever with impossible scenarios. She sighed and stumbled back to bed. She had to get up early to get head way on her client’s project, and she needed to talk with Danni about other management things before all the guys showed up. 

Groaning, she fell back into her covers and curled up in them. After ten minutes of tossing and turning, she threw her blanket off. She needed sleep, dammit! 

Her mind informed her there was one way to try. With a defeated sigh, she went over to her underwear drawer and pulled out a small, purple little vibrator. She grabbed a t-shirt from the closet and put it on her bed before stripping down. Screw it, might as well, since she apparently needed it. 

* * *

A couple of days passed by without incident. Mikaela threw herself into work. The sixteen year old client’s fancy Nissan was done up, looking all shiny and pretty. The boy came in and lost his mind, posting to his Facebook immediately about it, getting all kinds of photos and videos. Well, at least he’ll help get her some exposure. He seemed supremely happy as he got in and drove off. 

The next client on the list was a well to-do CEO of some corporation. His daughter threw a fit that her new Porsche wasn’t the purple she wanted. He gave Mikaela extra for some butterfly detailing. Mikaela helped Conroy get the purple sheeting applied to the front bender, but they’d need help for the rest. It was a good place to stop. 

When everyone else was gone, Mikaela locked up the garage and got on her bike. A ride would help clear her head, and she was more than ready to deal with Barricade if he tried to pull her over again. Optimus and Ratchet had posted Sideswipe just outside the city. 

She drove for just a couple of hours. She liked just cruising through the city, letting her music play. Bumblebee made a wireless speaker system in there. She kept the volume on low so she could still hear everything. 

_Like a goddamn cop’s siren!_

Mikaela glared over her shoulder. Yep, it was him. She moved to get her phone out as she pulled onto the shoulder. Barricade was right behind her. With a little too much force, she tore off her helmet and tried to tap on the screen. 

Nothing. Mikaela smacked it against the heel of her palm. Her datapad was in her back pack, not within easy reach. Dammit. 

“Come on!” She turned to glare at Barricade as he sauntered over to her with that bedamned smirk on his lips. “The answer is still no.” 

Barricade came up to her side. “Something wrong with your phone?” 

Mikaela let out a frustrated sigh and put the device in her jacket. “What do you want?” 

“Same thing as last time, but…” Barricade held up a brown bag. “I also come with fuel.”

“Food, it’s called food, and what even is it?” As soon as she asked, the smell hit her. “Did-did you burritos from the taco stand downtown?” 

“Maybe.” Barricade wiggled his eyebrows. “I heard it’s a great place to eat some good grub.” 

“Why would you even look at my Yelp account? Forget it.” Mikaela’s stomach grumbled. “I’m not hungry.” Her eyes shifted to the bag again. 

“Lies,” Barricade bumped her with his shoulder. “Come on, it’s just dinner, then I’ll take you home if you want.” He brought the bag closer, letting the smell of roasted chicken, cheese, and hot sauce hit her nose. “What do you say?” 

Mikaela glared at him, then the bag. “I don’t have anywhere to put my bike.” 

“That’s ok, I had a place in mind.” 

* * *

The drive-in theater outside of the city didn’t have many cars in it at all. There was a mini-van with a pick up truck off to the left, it looked like a family outing. To the right, a dude had his arm around a girl in a drop top. 

Mikaela parked her bike. Barricade’s holoform sat in his driver’s seat, so she went around to the other side. She glanced at the sky, beseeching it for help, before resigning herself to getting inside the Decepticon. As she settled in, Barricade passed over the bag and some napkins. 

“Thanks,” Mikaela said, feeling like she should at least be polite, even if it was the weirdest date-like thing she’d ever been on. 

“You’re welcome.” Barricade laughed. “Primus, I love these old sci-fi movies you humans have.” 

Mikaela opened up her burrito’s wrapping and took a bite. “What even is this movie? I don’t recognize it.” 

“The War of the Worlds, the old one, obviously.” Barricade chuckled. “Look at those tiny ships! The lasers, agh! It’s amazing how ridiculous it is.” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes. “Not everyone has been in an intergalactic war, ya know.”

“I know, but come on! Green? And all the ships are exactly the same type and model?” Barricade pointed at the screen. “And the lasers make fire! Look at that! Not scorch marks, but fire!” 

“Is this your hobby? Watching sci-fi movies and making fun of them?” Mikaela munched on her burrito again and shrugged. “Weird choice, but ok.” 

“Well, my other hobby is chasing this human woman around.” Barricade turned to grin at her. “She’s got bearings, this human, goes toe-to-toe with us Decepticons.” 

Mikaela stared out the windshield and kept eating. “You’re just saying that to get in my pants.” 

“No, I’m not.” Barricade’s smile faltered a little. “I think you’ve been given the short end of the oil stick. You shouldn’t have to scream at that boy for him to see you, really see you. You’re strong, you’re smart, and you really do deserve better.” 

Mikaela finished off her food, which was getting hard with her throat tightening up. She managed to swallow it. She couldn’t look at Barricade for a moment. She stared at the movie, hard, as if the zany special effects could stable the ache in her chest. 

She put all the wrappings and used napkins into the bag. She opened the door and took a quick walk to the garbage bin. She stood there, letting her emotions settle. Barricade might’ve been a bit of an ass, but he seemed to mean what he said. Maybe she shouldn’t have believed him, maybe it was just the recent break up getting to her, but...it was nice to be seen. 

The movie’s end credits started playing. The family in the van and the pick-up packed up to go. The couple in the other car were making out. Time to decide. She walked back over to Barricade and got into the seat. 

“What do you want?” she asked, deciding to get direct. “And no bullshit. Just tell me.” 

“I want you, Mikaela. I’ll take you however way you’ll let me. If that means I’m driving you home, fine, if that means I’m fragging you into my interior, I’m very fine with that. I know I can’t give you forever. We are on opposing sides and all.” Barricade brought a hand down to her thigh. He slowly caressed up. “But I can give you now.” 

She looked into his hololight eyes, now blazing crimson. There were a thousand very good reasons to go home, just get back to her house and lock the doors. She could call for back-up from the house line. 

But the diagrams filtered through her mind, and she found herself saying, “If I do this, it’s one time, Barricade. Once.” 

“I’ll take it.” Barricade surged forward to capture her lips in a kiss. 

Mikaela cried out against his lips, “Mmmph!” She felt a hand cupping the back of her head. She squirmed, overwhelmed. The seat under her fell back and she cried out again. “Barricade! Whoa!” 

Then, she was covered head to toe. Barricade stared down at her, his face serious and intense. He cupped her cheek and kissed her again. “You beautiful, amazing, lovely little thing.” 

He kept kissing her, letting his hands hold her around the waist. Mikaela squirmed again, unsure, but he was kissing her gently. Tentatively, she brought her hands up to cup his face. Holo-light forms weren’t made of skin, but they were warm and firm, and she let herself feel his smooth texture. 

He broke away, letting her catch her breath. 

Mikaela sucked in air. “Barricade?” 

“Let’s get your clothes off.” Barricade unzipped her jacket. He paused and grinned. “No bra, huh?” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes as she sat up to take her biker jacket off. “The jacket is tight enough to keep them from bouncing.” 

“I’m not complaining.” He pushed her back down, palming one mound in his hand. “Wow, so soft.” He leaned down to kiss down her neck. “Warm, too.” 

A blush erupted across Mikaela’s cheeks. “Are you going to have a running commentary?”

“Sorry, never had a human femme before.” Barricade tugged her shirt up. “I want to feel you. All of you.” 

Mikaela raised her arms. The fabric slid over and away. She shivered, exposed. Her nipples hardened. Barricade tossed the shirt into the backseat. He brought his hands down to cup each breast. He massaged both oh-so softly, taking his time to feel them.

Mikaela arched her back. “You can be a little firmer.” She moaned as he grasped harder. “Yes, like that.” He kissed a path up and down her neck. He thumbed at her nipples. Mikaela jumped a little. 

“Sensitive?” Barricade kissed down, down, until he took a nipple into his mouth. Mikaela cried out and grabbed at his shoulders. It was hot, not painfully so, but surprising. It wasn’t wet like she expected, like it would be with a human, but it was still good. He moved over to the other side and gave her other nipple just as much attention.

“Haaaa,” Mikaela arched her back again, her hips tilting up. Barricade moved back up to kiss her again. He grinded his hips against hers, and Mikaela groaned.

“Easy, now,” Barricade kissed her bottom lip, sucking on it lightly before letting go. “I wanna take my time with you.” 

And he did. His hands roamed, touching up and down her ribs, caressing the dips. He planted kisses across her collarbone, kissed hard at certain points. Mikaela let him drive her crazy for a while. She couldn’t remember this last time foreplay was actually play, not a little kissing and a roll over. 

When he got that sweet spot behind her ear, she moaned deep and bucked her hips up. He grinded his hips against hers, and Mikaela whimpered, “Barricade, please.” 

“Pants, off, now.” Barricade sat up and fumbled with her jeans’ button and zipper. 

Mikaela sat up with him and helped shimmy a bit awkwardly out of her pants, letting them tangle around her ankles. As he moved in to kiss and touch her again, she managed to toe her shoes off and get one pants leg off. God, it felt like high school all over again, but not in a bad way.

Barricade simply took off his clothes in the blink of an eye. Mikaela brought her hands up to touch his chest. He was well toned, and she appreciated the view. Her eyes drifted down to his shaft and she bit her lip. It looked like a bit much, but she could take it. 

“So, watched a lot of porn, huh?” Mikaela asked. 

He lifted her legs up and shuffled down. “I wanted to be prepared, but I’m no idiot. I did research. I read a bunch of articles written by women on what feels good and what doesn’t. There was one act they all agreed no woman got enough of.” 

He gave her a look of pure sin before he moved to taste her. Mikaela cried out. It had been a long while since she’d been eaten out. Sam used to, sometimes, when they were first dating. Barricade was better, somehow? How was he better?! She felt his tongue plunging into her and she made a fractured sound. 

He groaned into her wet heat. She wondered if he actually could taste her, or if it was just knowing how he was getting her off? 

Suddenly, she realized she was getting fucked by Barricade while being inside of him. She brought her hands down to palm over the interior. The engine revved as Barricade growled into her inner thigh. 

“Careful there, ma’am, or I might have to cuff you.” Barricade’s voice was getting deeper with a hint of static. 

“Promises, promises,” Mikaela said in a breathless voice. 

Barricade moved up to cover her. “Gonna spike you real good.” He settled between her thighs, his shaft nosing at her folds. She gasped as the tip slid inside of her. He surged forward, sliding in and filling her completely. His lips caught her in another kiss, as if he wanted to devour her. 

He pumped his hips, rolling just right. Mikaela wrapped her legs around him, trying to push him inside as deep as he could go. She held onto his shoulders as he thrust into her, needing him close. Barricade kissed all the breath out of her. 

“Mikaela,” Barricade groaned into her cheek, “my wonderful, gorgeous femme.” 

“Barricade,” the compliments did something to her, adding to the heat pooling between her legs.“Faster, please.” 

“As you wish.” Barricade grabbed at her, gripping her ass so he could pound into her better. 

Mikaela couldn’t remember the last time someone took her rough like this, not meanly, just rough enough to make her feel taken. He was filling her up and leaning over at just the perfect angle for her clit. A whimpering, moaning mess, she could only lay there and take the fucking he gave her. 

The engines revved again, the vibrations under her back just adding to all the other sensations. “Running hot there, Con?” 

“Primus, you know I can feel you, don’t you? I can feel you getting fragged against my seat.” Barricade’s voice was definitely static laced and several octaves lower. 

“Fuck,” Mikaela threw her head back. She could feel it, building up, coming so quick! 

Her orgasm hit her hard. She clenched around Barricade, but he kept going at his same pace. Mikaela let him fuck her through it, but finally had to ask, “Cade? I’ve come. Do you need to do something to overload?” 

Barricade thrust into her one last time. He nodded against her collarbone. “I ne-need you either with-with a cable or on my gearshift.” 

Mikaela savored the lingering clenching of her orgasm, but she wanted to be fair. “Ok, yeah, I’ll get on the gearshift.” She sat up, shaking a bit. Barricade slid out of her, and she saw the mess she’d made on the seat. Oops, well, a job for later. 

She heard the sounds of a transformation sequence. The gearshift was modeled into what Mikaela knew from the diagrams as an uplink cable. Barriade flickered out of his hololight for a second to move to the other seat. Mikaela moved to straddle the gearshift. 

Since she was so wet, it slid in very easily, and Mikaela moaned. Barricade’s holoform lost its structure twice before returning back to kiss her and touch her. “Yeah, babe, it won’t take long, just bounce a bit for me, yes!” 

Mikaela moved up and down on the gearshift. She held onto the dash for support as she moved. Barricade devolved from English to Cybertronian, whimpering sweetly in her ear as he neared his own overload. Mikaela was surprised the metal didn’t hurt, it actually felt like it was malleable, moving with her as she pumped her hips.

She could feel the car trembling around her. “Be careful of your charge,” she said to him, “it could hurt me, like a lot.” 

“I-I kn-o-ow, I-I kn-o-o-ow,” Barricade’s voice was barely there through all the glitching. 

When he came, Barricade’s hololight form disintegrated. The whole car around her shook and shuddered. Mikaela stayed on the gearshift for a bit, catching her breath. She relaxed her head against the dash. Inside, something was filling her up. Transfluid, she remembered, transfluid came from uplink cables and spikes. She was too tired to move, so the fluid trailed down her thighs and onto the floor. 

After a while, Barricade’s distinctly Cybertronian voice asked from the speakers, “So...are you sure it’s only gonna be one time?” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes. “I might be persuaded to try again.” 

“Good, very fragging good.” 


	2. Experimenting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I wasn't expecting people to actually like this fic, so thank you for swarming me with kudos. Also, thanks for the comments! 
> 
> Now that I hooked you in with porn, welcome to the PLOT! Haha, you thought there wasn't one? Nope. It is showing up from here on in.

Thankfully it was a Sunday the next day, which meant Mikaela could recover. She took some painkillers and tried to stay off her legs. She forgot how out of shape she was, because her thighs hurt from all the bouncing. Barricade convinced her for another go round, and she said yes for some stupid reason. 

Barricade did take her home. He’d stored her bike in his subspace and brought her back. Good to know in the future it would fit in there, she supposed. He’d been nice, even offered to carry her up the stairs, but she managed to get up to the loft by herself. 

Barricade left, awkwardly saying goodbye, “I would stay, but your Autobots wouldn’t like me hanging around, I bet. Shoot first and ask questions later, ya know? But I’ve got your number. I’ll call you. Be well, Mikaela.” 

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” 

Currently, she was in the bath, letting the hot water soothe her aching muscles. She decided she’d order a pizza and have a night in, just a good ol’ self-care day. She brought out the datapad and started skimming through her files again. Uplink cables wouldn’t have the kind of transfluid with CNA in it, only a spike would, but it didn’t matter as Cybertronians weren’t compatible with organics. Good to know, the last thing she needed was a half-metal baby coming along. 

Mikaela put the datapad on the floor. She let her hands go down to skim over her stomach, then cradle a little lower, right over the pudge of her uterus. She’d assumed for years that one day, maybe when Sam graduated, maybe after they were married for a year...But Sam was no longer in the picture. Children weren’t the biggest priority at the moment, but she wanted them someday. 

It hurt to realize it wouldn’t be with the man she loved. 

Mikaela sighed and dipped her head back. She hated how much she missed him. She was so used to going to his house, letting his mom fuss over her, watching some TV with Ron while she waited for him to come home. She guessed that would be Carly’s life, soon. 

She gasped on a sob. Instead of fighting it, she let herself cry for a while. No one would be around to see it, and she knew it was part of the breaking up process. It was supposed to hurt, it was ok to not be ok, she knew it logically. She just wished her damn heart would get over it. 

After a while, she splashed some water on her face. “Enough, enough, go do something,” she told herself. 

She put herself into pajamas and threw on a fluffy grey robe. At her desk, she went through emails and logged onto “The Forge” social media accounts. Danni was in charge of the new Twitter campaign, but it couldn’t hurt to have a glance over at everything. She got caught up on her budgeting, too, just to be safe and since she had the time to spare. 

Afterwards, she rewarded her hard work with a call to Pizza Hut on the house line, with a yes cheesesticks please! She was about to pick a movie on Netflix when her cell phone rang. She glared at it.

“Oh of course you work now,” she grumbled as she picked it up. 

OPTIMUS was on the screen. She froze for a second, wondering. Did he know? She answered it with a shaky, “Hello?” 

“Mikaela, greetings, I hope your day is going well. I heard from Ratchet about your run in with Barricade.” 

Mikaela gulped down her guilt and anxiety. “Yeah, it’s ok I think. He didn’t hurt me or threaten me or anything.” 

“All the same, I was thinking of sending Arcee or Sideswipe as your own guardian. How would you feel about that?” 

Mikaela bit her lip. She hated to think of Optimus worrying about her, or hell of him being so disappointed in her with this new thing she had with Barricade. She knew a guardian made sense, and she knew probably it would give Barricade a silent “no,” that he’d just go away and not come back. 

She finally answered, “Can I have some time to think about it? I like Arcee, and Sideswipe is a bit of a jerk, but I know he’d protect me, too. I just…” She trailed off. She wanted to tell him, but she knew he’d be so upset with her. 

“With a threat so imminent, I would like to place a guardian with you as soon as possible, but I can understand how another change in your life wouldn’t necessarily be welcome. How about a week? Could you give me an answer by then?” 

Mikaela sighed with relief. “Yeah, a week should be good.” She smiled. “Thanks for taking care of me, big guy.” 

“Of course, Mikaela, you’re a very important ally. I even consider us friends. I can’t allow harm to come to you if I can prevent it.” 

The words struck at her heart. She didn’t like lying to him by omission, but she didn’t want him to think she had betrayed him, either. “I think of us as friends, too.” 

“Until next Sunday, I will have Sideswipe and Arcee patrolling the city. They’re also interested in getting to know you.” 

Mikaela grimaced at the idea of Sideswipe hanging around, but said, “Yeah, ok, makes sense.” She thought about it, but didn’t tell Optimus. She could handle it if the mech got handsy. 

“Good, well I’m off to speak with Ironhide about our next mission.” 

“Stay safe out there, and tell Ironhide I said hi.”

“I will. Farewell, Mikaela.” 

She ended the call. As she sat her phone on her desk, she slumped into her rolly desk chair. She was going to have to tell Barricade they had a week, and then it was done. He was on the same page with it being a fling. Hopefully a little more sex and sending him on his way wouldn’t go horribly awry. 

Mind made up, she waited for pizza and chose a horror movie. 

* * *

Barricade hated meetings. He was at an abandoned warehouse some miles away from Mikaela. He’d given a report, full of half-truths and half-lies. He told the Decepticons that Mikaela and Sam were no longer together, but that Mikaela served no purpose for Decepticon intelligence. He hated putting the words “useless” and “unnecessary manpower in recognizance” in her file, but it was for the best. In a small way, he would be protecting her from a Decepticon kidnapping or hostage plot. 

Instead, he put the other femme as a new possible bonded for the boy. Nothing personal, Carly, he thought to himself. She was constantly around him, and it just made sense that Sam would cling to the new girl as soon as he realized Mikaela really wouldn’t take him back. 

Soundwave acknowledged his report with little reaction but said, “Good work. I will give the intel to Lord Megatron.” 

So you can take all the credit, right? Barricade nodded his helm and said, “I do what I can for the cause.” 

He backed away, letting a few other scouts give their reports. He walked to the back and settled against an old, rusted truck. He half-listened as other Decepticons spoke of small successful raids or getting defeated by some Autobot or another. Soundwave would beat the ones who failed, but not enough to damage them too badly. Their medics were few, although Barricade heard Knock Out and Breakdown finally made it to the Nemesis. 

When the reports were done, Soundwave informed the scouts. “New mission assignments are incoming to your comm links. Some of you,” Soundwave glared at the ones who failed their previous work, “will be reassigned to a new division.” He nodded to the few scouts that managed to impress him. “Others will have a chance to prove their worth to be my second in command.” 

WHAT? Barricade sucked in air through his vents. He turned to look at his competition. Razorlight was a helicopter model mech. He never really had an ambitious streak, more prone to leading than following. Motorclash was a train, and he hated getting his hands dirty more often than not. Both of those mechs looked at him with widened optics. No one in the room said it, but it became terribly obvious that Soundwave wanted him. 

Slag.

He accepted the data pack and locked optics with Soundwave. Whatever the mission was, it would be a high priority. 

[Mission: Find the last lost shard of the All Spark. Energy readings indicate it is a constant moving target. Coordinates to follow. Keep your mission confidential, tell no one you what you are tracking. Do not disappoint me.] 

Barricade knew his jaw was open wide. He turned to look at Razorlight and Motorclash. Neither one of them looked excited about this mission. Motorclash actually looked ready to purge, and Barricade didn’t blame him. Everyone assumed there were no more pieces of the All Spark left. For a sparkbeat, he wondered if it was a lie, a wild cybergoose chase, but he immediately dismissed it. 

No one would joke about the All Spark. 

Barricade kneeled before Soundwave. Razorlight and Motorclash scrambled to follow his lead. 

“I will not fail you, Commander Soundwave.” 

* * *

Mikaela was in the middle of watching “ALIENS” when she got another phone call. She glared at her phone and picked it up. UNKNOWN CALLER, of course.

She picked it up. “Hello?”

“Mikaela, hey, how are you?” Barricade’s voice. 

“So you are the unknown caller, huh?”

“What?” 

“You called me...the day before Sam and I broke up?” 

“No, it wasn’t me, I swear.” Barricade sounded sincere. “Probably just one of those crank calls.” 

“Prank calls, they’re called prank calls.” She shuffled deeper into her blankets. “I’m sore, if you must know, actually.” 

“Tell me all about it.” Barricade said in a sultry tone. 

“No, get your head out of the gutter. And I swear if this is a booty call, your Decepitcon aft is done for.” 

“Nah, nah, I’m just checking in, I promise.” Barricade grunted. “I was actually worried. You were wincing when you walked up the stairs.” 

Mikaela shrugged her shoulders. “I’m out of shape, that’s all.” 

“Still, if it hurts, let’s not do it like that again, then. Don't get me wrong, I liked you on my gearshift, but I'd rather you feel good after.” 

Barricade spat something in Cybertronian and there was a klang! 

“What are you doing?” Mikaela asked. 

“Some recon stuff. I got a new mission and let’s just say it’s a doozy.” Barricade grumbled and grunted. “I’m just going through some stuff and it’s a little heavy.” 

“Oh? Please, do tell, like everything.” Mikaela asked with her best faux-Valley Girl accent, “Like is it a super important mission? Did Megatron ask you personally?” 

“Nice try, femme, but no. Can’t have you tellin’ the Bots and blowing my whole operation.” 

“Damn, and I tried so hard, too.” 

“Sorry, what was that? I can’t hear you over all this sarcastic interference.” 

Mikaela giggled despite herself. “I said don’t slam anything on something important.” 

“Don’t you worry none, I’m being careful.” 

Just as he said that, there was a huge CRASH! BANG! And then silence. “Oops…”

She sat up. “Barricade? Are you alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m functional.” Barricade grumbled and spat more Cybertronian. “I managed to cut off a couple of digits.”

Mikaela sighed in exasperation. “Did you seal off your energon lines? Run a diagnostic.” 

“I know how to dress my own battle wounds, thank you!” Barricade grumbled something again. “Gonna have to get back to HQ for a hand repair, though.”

Mikaela thought about it. She had some parts hidden away in the garage. They were there for the Autobots, though, in case they needed a repair and couldn’t get back on base. Still, a little Cybertronian sheet metal wouldn’t be missed. 

“You could come over tomorrow, I guess. I’ve got some stuff to do quick repairs.” Mikaela bit her lip. “Can you wait until after hours?”

“Yeah, it’s not a big issue. I can transform into my alt mode, still.” Barricade laughed. “So much for being careful.” 

“Don’t use that hand if you can avoid it.” Mikaela ordered. 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

There was a beat of silence. Mikaela opened her mouth to tell him about their deadline, but she stopped short. 

“There is something I should tell you,” Barricade said instead, “I reported the break up to Soundwave. I’m sorry, but Lord Megatron does want intel on any humans attached to the Autobots. However, I lied about you. I said that you weren’t involved with the Autobots any longer. That should keep them away from you.” 

Mikaela sucked in a harsh breath. “But what about Sam?” 

“Sam’s got Bumblebrat with him, and the government is sending men to tail him all the time. Besides, I know he doesn’t have any of the All Spark in him anymore, and I reported that a long time ago. He’s not in danger at all.” 

Her shoulders relaxed. “Ok, that’s good to hear. I mean, we might not be together anymore, but I don’t want Sam dead.”

There was a small beat of silence. “You still care about him, huh?” 

Mikaela curled up. “Yeah, I do. We were together a long time. I can’t just turn it off. I would think about what he was doing, I would spend time at his house, and I just got used to him being in my life. I wish I could just, I don’t know, flip a switch and not care anymore. But humans don’t work like that.” 

“Neither do we,” Barricade said. “If you break a bond with a conjunx endura or an amica endura, the loss of them cuts deep, and it’s not an easy wound to heal. I’ve heard some mecha die from the loss of a bonded.” 

Mikaela nodded. “Yeah, some people die from heartbreak, but I won’t.”

“I know, you’re a strong femme, Mikaela. You’re fierce and I’m honoured you’ve let me have you.” Barricade asked, “Could I have you again?” 

Mikaela sighed. “After we get your repairs done, I might consider trying a cable interface.” 

She heard the revving of an engine over the line. “I’ll bring dinner,” he said. 

* * *

Barricade sent off a small update to Soundwave the next morning.He was at an abandoned car park stretching out his legs. Frenzy was running about, too, enjoying a little freedom from his compartment. It was also a reward for all the hard work he'd done yesterday, slipping into the various facilities to hack systems for Intel. 

Keeping an optic on his symbiote, Barricade sent his message over a secure comm link channel. 

[Accessed three government facilities. None had the All Spark fragment. I did manage to find Scorponok’s tail. Not sure what it was doing there since he was supposed to be at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.] 

He omitted how he managed to drop the sharp bit and slice through two fingers on his right hand. He looked down at his hand, not bothered particularly by their loss. It gave him another chance to see Mikaela, after all, so it was worth a little pain.

Barricade didn’t expect a reply, but Soundwave pinged him back. [Good work. Razorlight and Motorclash report nothing from the NEST Headquarters about the All Spark. No chatter and no sign.] 

Well, duh, the All Spark fragment energy wasn’t anywhere near the mission pack coordinates. Barricade saw the coordinates on his HUD, and yep, why the hell did those two think NEST would have it? He shook his head at the illogical move. 

[Understood. I’m keeping my search local.] He overlaid the signature maps atop each other. The All Spark fragment was moving along road lines, he could tell that much, but there wasn't a pattern to the movements at all. 

Soundwave spoke again. [Barricade, the All Spark fragment could mean creating energon for the entire Decepticon Army, creating new life. We must have it before the Autobots find the energy signature.]

[I know, Commander, I will find it.] Barricade paused. [Wait, may I ask, when did the energy signature pop up? Was it recently?] 

[Yes, it was only detected by long range scanners mere solar cycles ago.] 

Barricade frowned. [But it’s been years. Why would the All Spark fragment get moved around now?] 

[Theory: The All Spark fragment was kept in secret, even from the Autobots. When it became necessary for a human experiment, it had to move.] 

Barricade nodded. [Not a bad theory. I’ll search up government backed science centers. The CIA has labs, some hidden and some in plain sight.] 

[Make haste.]

[Of course. I’ll send another update soon.] Barricade waited for Soundwave to cut the link. He walked over to Frezy and transformed into his car mode. “Come on, we gotta get rollin. I need you to get into a few places for me.” 

“Yes, yes! Attack, attack!” Frenzy said as he dove into the car. 

“No, not attacking. You just gotta get in and get out.” 

Frenzy whined. “You’re no fun.” 

Barricade closed his door and sped off. “When we get done, you’ll go into stasis for a while. Gotta save our energon.” 

“Yes, boss-boss! Can do.” 

Barricade’s hololight form popped up in the driver’s side. He smiled to himself. After he went through a few facilities, he’d pick up some fuel for his femme.

* * *

Mikaela, Conroy, Nathan, and Mel all managed to get the purple sheet covering on the CEO client’s car. It took quite a few hours of letting each section for the different shades sit and settle before Mikaela could go in and outline butterfly details. 

When it was time for lunch, Conroy and Nathan sat together as always, hands intertwined. Danni yelled at them, “No third base at the lunch table!” so Conroy threw a grape at her forehead. 

“Joke’s on you, now I get to eat a grape,” Danni said and popped it in her mouth. 

Danni nudged Mikaela. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask, how are you holding up?” 

Mikaela shrugged. “I’m kind of not? But I guess that’s normal.” 

Conroy pointed at her. “Don’t give that empty pop-tart another thought! He wants to fool around with some other chick, fuck him!” 

Mikaela shrugged again. “It’s not that easy. I can’t just fall out of love that fast.” 

“I feel you.” Mel said, “Took me a while to get back to dating after the divorce. Just take it a day at a time.” 

Mel had to work on her own motorcycle decal work after so she ate quick and got back to work. Nathan was painting a starlight pattern across another car’s hood. Conroy stayed with Mikaela and helped fill in the butterfly outlines with green and teal in the tiny gaps of the wings. 

Mikaela was still a bit sore, but keeping off her legs the day before managed to make work not complete hell. Danni came in every once and a while about some appointments. By the end of the day, it looked as if the campaign had been successful their whole month was booked. 

When it was time to close, Mikaela hugged Danni before she left. “Thanks for asking.” 

“Of course!” Danni grabbed her shoulders. “This weekend let’s go get mad drunk at your Dad’s place. He can make those atrocious nachos of his, and we can talk about Sam without the guys giving bro advice.” 

“Well,” Mikaela paused, thinking over the time limit, “could we do next weekend instead? I think with our schedule and stuff, it’s better that way, yeah?” 

“Oh, yeah you’ve got Saturday shifts. Shit, yeah, let’s do it next weekend!” Danni waved and headed off to her car. “Stay strong, girl!” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes but headed inside. She searched through the garage, locking up the front and putting the rolling sheet over the glass front. She headed back into the garage and moved to a suspension rig. She fell down into the hole. She felt for the grooves in the cement and pushed just so. 

A voice emitted from the floor. “Fingerprint and bio-scan confirmed. Mikaela Banes accessing .” 

She moved back as the floor transformed into a stairwell. It lead down, down, down deep into the earth. Lights came on and Mikaela walked down. It took ten minutes to get all the way to the vast lair beneath her garage. She’d joked with Optimus that she should’ve just moved downstairs when she saw it the first time. 

She walked into something straight from The Matrix. Rows upon rows of Cybertronian parts were lined up in the huge room. A Cybertronian the size of Bumblebee or Sideswipe could stand comfortably in it, but Optimus had ducked down. 

Mikaela walked over and pressed on a keypad. She knew exactly which parts she needed. She put in the order, and a mechanical arm moved the parts for her. A different part of the ceiling opened to the garage, and the arm set the parts up there. When she was done, Mikaela said, “Teletran-E2, reset.” Everything settled back into place. 

“Teletran-E2, shut down after I go up the stairs, please.” 

As soon as she was back in the suspension rig, the floor transformed smoothly behind her to close up. She jumped up and caught herself on the ledge. She pulled herself up and out. 

Mikaela walked over to the Cybertronian metal. She paused as she realized she’d have to let Barricade pick up some of those heavy pieces instead of her. She sighed and moved into the break room. She opened the fridge and grimaced. She just wanted a snack, but nothing looked appetizing. 

She jumped when her phone rang and buzzed in her back pocket. Mikaela saw UNKNOWN CALLER and paused, but answered it. “Hello?”

After a beat, Barricade’s voice came over the line, “Anything you don’t like on your burgers? I know you like cheeseburgers and fries. I’m about to hit the drive thru. Pickles? Mustard? All good?” 

“No pickles!” Mikaela said as she closed the fridge door, “And a big coke. Wait, how can you pay for food?” 

“Not legally.” 

Mikaela sighed. “What did you do, swipe some credit card info for yourself?” 

“Never you worry your pretty little head. I won’t get caught and it won’t be missed.” 

“Sure, that’s what I’m worried about-Oh, whatever. Extra ketchup packets, please, I’m all out.” 

“Got it. I’ll be there in twenty.” 

Barricade was a mech of his word. He pulled up and got out of the car with a bag in each hand. He jogged over in his holo-form. “I hope you’re hungry, I messed up and ordered super size for your sides.” 

Mikaela took the bags with the food and moved into the garage. “Thanks! You’re a lifesaver. I didn’t go shopping yesterday, so it’s slim pickings in the loft.” Mikaela pointed to the sheet metal. “Can you take that outside? After I’m done eating I’ll grab my torches and fix you up.” 

“Can do.” Barricade’s holoform disappeared and she heard the tell-tale sounds of a mech transforming to root mode. 

As she sat down in the break room to ear, Barricade’s massive head ducked into the garage. He picked up the metal easily in one hand. He carefully maneuvered over the cars in the shop and took the supplies out to the parking area. “Anywhere good?” his booming voice asked from outside. 

“Wherever is fine!” Mikaela shouted out. 

She heard the metal getting dropped. Barricade’s holo-light form blinked back into existence in front of the table. He sat down in the chair across from her. Mikaela took out the fries and put them on the paper bag. She squirted some ketchup onto them and muched away. 

With a smile she said, “My dad hates that I put ketchup on my fries. He says it’s blasphemy to food.” 

Barricade snorted. “I’ve seen how your fraternal progenitor eats when he thinks no one is looking. He’s lucky to be alive at the rate he consumes bacon.” 

“No,” she slammed her coke on the table, “no, he knows he’s not supposed to eat it anymore! His cholesterol!” 

“He figures everyone has gotta die of somethin’.” Barricade shrugged. “I mean he’s not wrong, but eating himself into an early grave also doesn’t seem logical.” 

Mikaela took a bite of her cheeseburger. “I should get back to cooking. This week has been nothing but junk food and more junk food.” She ate some fries while staring at the table. “Barricade, there is something I gotta tell you.” 

He frowned, not liking her serious tone. “What’s up?” 

She set her food down and put her hands together. “When you pulled me over a while back, I told Ratchet about it. That and because Sam and I broke up, ya know, I won’t be around Bumblebee so much anymore. The point is I’m supposed to choose a guardian of my own in the next week. Actually, more like six days, I guess.” 

“Six days?” Barricade leaned forward, putting his arms on the table. “That’s it? That’s all we’re gonna get?” 

Mikaela nodded. “I’m sorry, but it is like you said, we’re on different sides. I’m not betraying the Autobots. They’re like part of my family.” 

“No, I get that, I do.” He reached a hand over to grasp hers. “I’m not leaving the Decepticons, either. I knew we’d have to part ways at some point, but a week? I...I kind of hoped for a little more time, after the other night. I felt we had something, a good kind of heat.” 

“We call it chemistry.” Mikaela said, squeezing his hand. “And we do have good chemistry, I think, but good chemistry isn’t enough for me. If it was, well-.”

“You’d still be with the boy.” Barricade finished for her. He rubbed his thumb over her skin. “Well, less than a week isn’t much time, but it’s something. Like I said before, I’ll have you however you’ll let me, and I’m a mech of my word.” 

She nodded. “Thanks for being understanding, for not trying to change my mind or something.” 

“Nah, I know better.” Barricade grinned at her. “But hey, can I convince you to have sex every day this week?” 

“Absolutely not, I’m still sore from last time.” Mikaela batted his hand away and grabbed at her food. “But tonight, sure, the night after next, ok. I’ll tell you if Friday is allowed if I’m not dying by that point.” 

“You won’t offline from sex, I’m not that good.” Barricade managed to dodge the wet french fry thrown at his face. “Hey! I paid good money for that fuel.”

“Oh my god, it’s called food. Whatever, shut up and let me eat.” 

Barricade didn’t, but it was fine. They talked about ALIENS franchise after Mikaela mentioned she watched the first three the day before on Netflix. Barricade informed her, to her horror, that he actually knew a species similar to it out there in the cosmos. He shifted his holo-light form to show her and she did not like that at all. 

He changed back just as she finished eating. They walked out to the parking lot together, Mikaela with torches in hand and cover for her eyes on her head. Barricade’s holo-form vanished as they approached the Charger in the lot. He transformed again. 

“How do you want me?” He asked, holding up his hand. “I’ve got the fingers in my subspace compartment.” 

“Did you cut from a joint?” Mikaela asked him. 

“Nah, it’s the thick bit, near what you call a palm.” Barricade brought his hand down to show her. 

Mikaela analyzed the wound. The cut was nearly clean, but there was a little tearing. She would have to smooth out the hand first and then mold the metal to fill in missing bits, but it looked easy enough. “Ok, just lay on your back and put your hand up.” She gestured with her palm facing the sky. 

Barricade did as he was told, moving to lay down and expose his hand for her. Mikaela lit up her torch and slapped on the face cover to protect her eyes. 

“Turn off your pain receptors if you haven’t already. Don’t move, I’m gonna clear down the tears first. Shouldn’t take long.” 

Mikaela ran the bright fire along the edge of the cut. Barricade didn’t flinch or hiss in pain, so she knew he must’ve listened to her about the pain receptors. She took her time letting the metal blend back together. She turned off the torch and hopped off his hand to get some sheet metal. 

“Ok, after I mold, I’ll attach, and then again and again. This is the part that’ll take a while. If you wanna fall into recharge, that’s fine. I can wake you up when I’m done.” 

Barricade shook his head. “No way, I’m enjoying the show.” 

Mikaela flipped up her cover and glared at him. “Really? This is turning you on?” 

He grinned salaciously at her, which was impressive considering he was doing so with mandibles. Mikaela sighed and flipped the cover back over her face. 

She said, “Just don’t move, idiot.” 

After cutting off bits of metal with the torch, she curled them into crescent shapes and put them on Barricade’s torn nubs. Carefully, she sealed the parts together with a torch. She would wait a few minutes after to make sure the Cybertronian metals fused together, the healing nanites in his system taking the new parts and combining them together. It took the better part of an hour to get the parts exactly the way she wanted them. 

“Ok, get out your fingers. I’ll re-attached them. There should be enough material on here for your own systems to finish the job.” 

Barricade got out his two fingers. He placed one on the patch for her, and she fired away with the torch. The next one went on, and without a hitch the two were fused back to their original places. Finally after nearly two hours of work, Mikaela turned off her torches, stepped off and moved away. 

“Ok, test them out and run a diagnostic.” Mikaela ordered. 

Barricade opened and squeezed his hand in fist a few times. “It’s working. Perfect job, Mikaela.” 

She hated the blush that stole over her cheeks. “It’s an easy fix. Anyone could do it.” 

“Not anyone on Earth.” Barricade rolled onto his side. “Not every human gets tutored by the infamous Ratchet of Vaporex. Primus, I don’t know many mechs who would make the cut, either.” 

“I was just around, that’s all.” Mikaela took off her head cover and sat it off to the side. “Ratchet said I had potential, but I think he was just being nice.” 

Barricade just stared at her. “Femme, if he was just being nice he wouldn’t have left you with Autobot medical supplies. He wouldn’t have stolen you away every summer to teach you about Cybertronian physiology. No, he doesn’t just see potential in you, he’s damned determined to make you an operative at NEST someday.” 

Mikaela’s eyes went comically wide. “What? But I can’t! I’m not in the military!” 

“Yeah, and the boy is? Please, once you know enough to be invaluable, you’ll get a job offer.” Barricade tilted his huge head, and he grinned. “Hey, want to test out your work?” 

She didn’t get a chance to answer as a large hand reached out to grab her. “Oh, put me down!” 

“Don’t panic,” Barricade brought her up as he rolled onto his back again, “just gonna settle you right here.” He put her on his chest plates, right over where his sparkchamber was.

Mikaela squirmed in his hand. “Brute!” 

“That I am.” He released her from his hold, but only so he could have his claws run up and down her back. “How about you take off them clothes for me?” 

Mikaela shook her head. “It’s December. It’s too cold to take them off out here.” 

“I’ll keep you warm.” Barricade touched his chest. “This is where most of our heat comes from. You’ll find I’m radiating heat waves.” 

Mikaela squinted at him with suspicion. She brought her hands down to feel, and jumped. “Whoa! Yeah, that is pretty warm.” 

It was unbearable, but it would definitely help. She looked around the parking lot, empty except for them. There were trees between her and the country road she lived on, but still. 

She asked, “What if someone sees us?” 

“Nothing is getting picked up on my scans except for rabons.” 

“The what?” 

“The grey things, with the black and white tails.”

“Oh, raccoons.” 

“That’s what I said. Anyways, come on, strip down. I promise it’ll be worth it.” 

Mikaela wondered how her life got to the point where she was topless on a Decepticon, who had tried to kill her once, who just fucked her the other night, and who now was about to do it again. Barricade’s engines rumbled under her, and she wondered why that was turning her on a bit. She took off her jeans, then had to stand up to get her panties off. 

“Nice,” Barricade brought his hand up, gently caressing her breasts and down her stomach with his knuckles. 

Mikaela’s nipples got hard from the brush over. “Could you move my clothes?” 

Barricade picked them all up and put them over with the torches. He put an arm behind his head. “Lovin’ the view, babe.” 

Mikaela got back down on her knees. “So, what do you want to do?” 

“Well, I was thinkin’ first...” 

She felt Barricade’s holo-light form appear behind her. He planted kisses along her shoulder. His hands came up to cup her breasts, his thumbs playing with her nipples. 

“Let’s get you nice and warmed up.” Barricade brought his mechanical hand back up to brush her front again. “It was good, to frag you inside, but I want to see you this time.” 

“You want to see yourself fucking me?” 

Mikaela turned her head, and Barricade took the opportunity to kiss her on the lips. He did that thing where he sucked and nipped at her bottom lip, and she couldn’t break away. She liked that he didn’t thrust his tongue down her throat or bite her too hard. 

Mikaela moaned as his holo-form hand dipped down, down to the apex of her thighs. Fingers demanded their way in, and she opened up. She cried out as Barricade rubbed back and forth, massaging at her clit. She rocked her hips, getting that sweet friction. 

All the while, Barricade sucked and kissed at the side of her neck, his other hand squeezing her breast. His engines revved under her, and Mikaela whimpered. It was strange how quick she got so hot and ready for him. It usually took so much time for her to get this wet, but she could feel as he rubbed on her that she was dripping. 

“Barricade,” she moaned, “what are you doing to me?” 

“I told you, getting you warmed up.”

With one hand, he picked her up by her hips so he could delve in deeper and rest her on his thighs. She bowed over when a finger slipped inside her. She knew she was making awful, loud wanton noises, but she couldn’t help herself. Another finger went in, and she trembled. Barricade played with her, speeding up, then slowing down, rubbing at her clit again, then going back inside. 

“That’s my good femme, yeah, look how pretty you are.” Barricade growled as he watched. 

Mikaela realized he could see everything. He got a full view of her out in the open, breasts bouncing as he touched her, and her legs wide for him. He could see his own fingers pumping in and out of her. She stared into his red optics as he added a third finger. 

“Barricade!” she screamed, “Please!” 

“Primus, you’re dripping all over me, but I wanna see you fall apart. Can you do that for me, babe? I wanna see you come all over those fingers I’ve got in ya.” Barricade’s voice was getting that staticy edge to it. “Come on, you know you wanna.” 

She rocked desperately against his hand. She could feel his shaft, hard and stiff, against her ass. God, she wanted him inside her! His fingers didn’t fill her up. His engines were a constant rumbling against her legs and thighs, now. The vibrations helped, but she was still so frustratingly close, yet not quite there. 

Barricade apparently didn’t mind taking the time to make her. She whimpered and moaned as he finger banged her over and over again, keeping her on the edge between coming and not for what felt like an eternity. 

She begged, “Please, please, please, Barricade, please,” but he gave her no mercy. 

“I could do this all night, babe.” Barricade laughed when she shook her head vigorously. “No? Then you’re gonna have to come. Don’t you wanna?” 

“You-you’re just toying with me,” she accused. 

“Maybe a little. Felt like it was fast last time. Need to give you something to remember me by.” Barricade’s voice was definitely staticy by this point. “Guess we better move along, though, because I wanna spike you open before I put in my cable.” 

Mikaela cried out as Barricade suddenly grabbed her around the middle, holding her still. His hand between her legs changed. His fingers were pounding in with the heel of his palm slapping into her clit. She let out a hoarse sob as she finally came, clenching around his fingers. Barricade stopped and held his fingers there. 

“Very good, Mikaela,” Barricade whispered in her ear. He kissed along the side of her face. “Can you bend over for me? Put your front on my metal? I wanna spike you from behind.” 

Mikaela caught her breath enough to say, “Seriously, too much porn.” 

Barricade’s laughter emitted from all around her. She shivered because of it. Sometimes it struck her how small she was in comparison to Cybertronians, but laying atop an huge alien robot from space while he sweetly asked to screw her doggy style? It was a whole new level of overwhelming. 

And God, no one had ever made her come on their hand before! It was always just a teaser for sex, not phase one!

He helped her bend at her waist, settling her face down. Mikaela never really understood men’s fascination with just pounding away from behind. No woman liked to feel as if she was having sex with a drill master. She got that it was supposed to be dominating or something, but it always just felt demeaning to her. 

But as Barricade kissed her down her back, she wondered if he could change her mind. He squeezed her ass cheeks in his hands, then let them go to run his hands at the dip in her waist. 

He said, “I love how soft you are. I can’t get over it. It’s fascinating.” Barricade nuzzled the small of her back and kissed her there. “Every part of you is amazing.” 

Mikaela hid her face against the hot metal beneath her. How could he just say those things so easily? And why? She was already here, bent over and still reeling from an orgasm. He didn’t need to win her...Still, she hoped he never stopped. 

When he slid his cock inside of her, it was a single firm push without warning. She didn’t get a chance to catch her breath as he started thrusting away. Mikaela let out a small, “Ha, ha!” with every slap of their hips coming together. He said some growled out things in Cybertronian, and she might not have known what they meant, but she got the feeling they were filthy. 

He fucked her hard. His hands dug into her hips to pull her back. Mikaela lifted her head to see the Cybertroian face of Barricade with his mandibles open, huffing out air, trying to keep his systems from overheating. He was coming undone, this big machine-like creature, and it was because of her. The thought ramped the tension building up her spine.

She loved the heat coming off his metal form against her breasts. The rumbling vibrations shook against her chest and shins. She could feel his engines revving right underneath her. She widened her legs, hoping for him to hit her clit. Barricade noticed and moved his thighs more in between hers. 

He grabbed a hold of her shoulders and drove in deeper. Mikaela whimpered. Her whole body shuddered in time with each thrust. She wanted more, more! She could feel the tension rising, the heat coiling up in her again. 

“Barricade, oh, God, it’s so much, ah!” Mikaela threw her head back.

Barricade pumped his hips through her orgasm. Mikaela realized at some point she’d been drooling, and crying a little. She licked her lips, tried to wipe the tears away at least, but a mechanical hand was pulling her up and off of the cock in her. 

“Wait, what?” Mikaela floundered for a bit, legs dangling in the air. 

Barricade groaned as he pulled out a cable from under one of his chest plates. “Gotta spike you with a cable. You don’t have to do anything but lay there and take it, babe. Please, be good for me, please,” and a bunch of Cybertronian words followed. Mikaela figured it to be more begging. 

“That-that’s what I’ve been doing,” she said as he laid her down on her back. She squirmed in his hand. She knew he could very well crush her, he wouldn’t, but the strength of it made her dizzy for a second. 

“Just hold still, babe.” Barricade pushed the cable inside of her and Mikaela arched her back. 

“Fuck!” she cried out. 

“That is the idea.” Barricade pumped it in and out of her, slow and smooth. “Ohhhh, oh Primus, you feel amazing. Just like the first time. Ohhhh, yeah, yeah,” and he devolved into a mix of English and Cybertronian nonsensical noise. 

Mikaela laid there in his grip, unable to move at all. She clawed and grappled at the fingers holding her, but they were immobile. She tossed her head from side to side. He was gonna kill her with sex at this rate! She couldn’t believe she was letting him just keep at it! 

But damn, it was good! This interfacing cable was different from the gearshift uplink one. It had way more girth to it, and it felt more malleable. She knew he was enjoying himself, but he was being careful not to plug in too far. She could hear the perverse sound of it squelching as it plunged in and out of her. 

“Gonna come soon!” Barricade warned her. 

She felt the transfluid burst in her before she heard him shout. It pulsed, pulsed, and just kept going. It was too much for her to hold, and it spilled out from her. Mikaela bit her lip. She wasn’t sure why, but she liked that part, too. 

He must’ve redirected his charge, because she didn’t even feel a tingle. She lifted her head to look at him. Barricade was ex-venting hard, his hand on his face. She gulped when she realized he had just left his cable inside of her. 

Mikaela squirmed just a little, but it was enough to get his attention again. Barricade grinned at her.

“Hey there, beautiful.” He opened his hand. He stared at her, optics roaming. “If that’s not the best sight I’ve ever seen.” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes. “I feel like I’ve been through the wringer.” 

“Sorry, not sorry.” Barricade settled her on his chest again. Mikaela flopped onto her back. He gently pulled out his cable, and Mikaela moaned. “Sore?”

“Not badly.” Mikaela reassured him. “Just...really open.” 

“Ah,” Barricade’s holo-light form appeared beside her, “but nothing you can’t handle?” 

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she said with a firm nod. 

Barricade kissed her, a lazy post-coital kind of kiss. Without thinking about it, Mikaela let herself get drawn into his arms. She rested her cheek against his chest, her head pillowed by his shoulder. 

She asked him, “Good?” 

“Fan-fraggin-tastic,” Barricade kissed her forehead, then her cheek. “You mind if I stay the night? I’ve got nowhere to be.” 

“I need to sleep.” Mikaela told him. “No funny business in the night.” 

“What about the morning?”

“I have work, and you have some top secret mission.” She kissed his cheek. “And I’ll be mean and sore and cranky.” 

“Alright,” Barricade nuzzled her, “I hear you.” He squeezed her close. “I’ll take you in, but let’s just stay here a minute. I like feeling you on me.” 

Barricade’s mechanical hand moved to cover them both. Mikaela’s eyes fluttered shut. She was warm, fucked out, and safe. If only every night ended this way, she thought. 


	3. Presage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This episode brought to you by social distancing. This chapter ended up getting way longer than I intended it to be, but here it is all the same. I'll be uploading the next couple of chapters soon.

Mikaela woke up the next morning in her own bed. Held in someone’s arms, she rubbed her face against the chest beneath her. She tilted her head up to see Barricade holding up a book, his eyes flickering as they roamed over the page. 

“Morning,” she said with a groggy voice. 

“Mornin’,” Barricade put the book on the nightstand, “how you feelin’?” 

“Not so bad right now. We’ll see when I start to walk around.” Mikaela glanced at her alarm clock. It showed her 7:30 a.m. and she groaned. “I don’t want to get up.” 

“I feel that, I do.” Barricade snuggled down into the covers. “I carried you up here when it got colder. I moved the supplies and myself to hide behind the garage. Can you move them back from there?” 

“Maybe.” She shrugged a shoulder. “If I need help I’ll ask, but we used most of it. It should be fine with a lift and some maneuvering.” 

Suddenly, she remembered Barricade saying the other night about how he couldn’t stay the night...because of the Autobots. She lifted herself up a bit to squint at him. Barricade froze. 

“What?” he asked.

“The last time you said you were worried about getting shot at, that you couldn’t stay...what changed?” Mikaela sat up and glared down at him. “And last night, you said your sensors just picked up raccoons. Cybertronian sensors only go so far.” 

Barricade winced and backed up into the bed. “Promise you won’t get mad.”

“No, what did you do?” Mikaela tilted her head and put her hands on her hips. “Barricade?” 

“In my defense, I thought we would be seeing each other a lot more? And a little longer? So I might’ve put security sensors in a perimeter around your garage? And your dad’s place?” Barricade put his hands up, as if he could stave off an attack. 

Mikaela pursed her lips together. “Why?” 

Barricade oh-so slowly placed his hands on hers, holding her hips. “I wanted to keep you safe, and that meant I would need to know if the Autobots were to just pop up when I’m with you. Like right now, if Optimus just came up, I would need to roll out like Unicron was behind me.”

“So it’s not about claiming territory or stalking me, then?” 

“What? No!” Barricade shook his head. “Babe, I’m not trying to do anything like that, I’m not marking anything, no one but me will ever know those sensors are in place. I promise, it’s just to be prepared.” He sat up too, cupping her cheek gently. “Hey, they’re not cameras, they’re not recording anything. They’re just designed to send an alert and an energy signature. That’s it. I’m not doing anything awful with them, I promise.” 

Mikaela’s glare softened a bit. “I guess it’s not that different from the security system here, huh?” 

“Yeah, that’s about the same idea.” Barricade pressed his lips to hers, then murmured against her lips, “I want to protect you, too, ya know. I know the Autobots are soft sparked fools, they’d forgive you and all, but...still.” 

“I get it.” Mikaela kissed him back. “But I wished you’d said something before.” 

“Sorry, really, it kind of slipped my processor with everything else we talked about.” Barricade tucked her hair behind her ears. “Your hair is gettin’ real long again.” 

“I know, I need a cut.” Mikaela took a section of her hair, then dropped it. “Are you trying to distract me?”

“Yes,” Barricade said shamelessly, “but I can think of other distractions?” 

“No,” Mikaela shoved him at his face and pushed him back down to the bed, “not happening.” 

Barricade laughed, unbothered. “I’m just sayin’, I could do all the work. You just lay here all pretty and tired, then-.” 

“Shut up, shut up!” Mikaela grabbed a pillow and hit him twice on his chest. “No means no!” 

Barricade caught the pillow on the way down and threw it on the floor somewhere. “Fine, fine, I guess I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.” He pouted at her. 

“Don’t give me puppy dog eyes! You are an eons years old war combatent, you can wait forty eight hours for sex.” 

Barricade grumbled. “Yeah, but I don’t have to like it.” He rolled over and sat at the edge of the bed. “Not looking forward to the next couple of days, actually. I feel like I’m just running around in circles. Nothing about it is really making much sense, either? I dunno.” 

Mikaela sat beside him, their sides touching. “I can’t say I hope you succeed, but I’m sorry it sucks for you.” 

“Heh, yeah, thanks. It’s the kind of work that could get me promoted if I get it done, so cool…” Barricade didn’t finish his thought. He just sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. 

“Do you want to be promoted?” Mikaela asked. “You don’t sound really happy about it?” 

He paused, but then shook his head. “But Decepticons are supposed to be ambitious and all that slag. All the mecha are constantly vying for top spots, but I kind of just wanna do my job? I like being a scout. I like being out in the field, doing something. If I got higher, I start giving orders, meetings, all that.” 

“You don’t really seem like a meetings guy, for sure.” Mikaela pulled at his hand and squeezed it. “Couldn’t you just pass on it? Would it really be so bad to turn it down?” 

Barricade squeezed her hand back and kissed the back of her knuckles. “Probably wouldn’t go over well. I might end up failing, not on purpose, but I can’t get a lead. If I frag it up there will be pain, so there’s some motivation there.”

Mikaela frowned deeply, and her brow furrowed in concern. “Cade, they won’t kill you for failing, right? I don’t want you to get deactivated over whatever this is-.”

“Nah, nah, Soundwave wouldn’t let me get offlined. If he’s wanting me promoted, I’ll get punished and then reassigned. I’ll be fine.” Barricade turned to kiss her crinkled forehead. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m a Decepticon war machine, remember? I’m tough. It wouldn’t be anything I wasn’t used to.” 

Shaking her head, Mikaela stood up and grasped his face between her hands. “You shouldn’t be used to getting beaten, though? That sounds really abusive to me.” 

“It’s consequences for failure, rewards for success, that’s all. It’s simple and it works a hell of a lot better than the system before-No, no, no, I’m gonna shut up. Look,” he sighed and stood up too, “I don’t wanna spend time arguing over things we can’t change. We’ve got a countdown, so let’s just make the most of it, yeah?” 

Mikaela opened her mouth to argue, but clacked her teeth together. No, he was right, as much as she hated to admit it. Barricade wasn’t sticking around forever, and it wouldn’t be fair to try and change his mind about the Decepticons. All the same, she cared about him, even if he was an absolute horny mess of a mech. 

“Fine, yeah.” Mikaela let him draw her into a hug. “Just be careful out there.”

“Don’t worry. I will be, sweetspark.” 

* * *

Optimus Prime entered the office first. Sideswipe followed in right after and Arcee trailed behind. Sideswipe vibrated with anticipation, already figuring out what they’d been called into this meeting for, but Arcee was unsure about this whole idea. 

Optimus gestured for them to have a seat across from his ramshackle desk. The humans did their best, but it was so obviously just a bunch of storage containers from the docks stacked atop each other. The Prime sat in his chair, again made from recycled old buildings and warehouse containers sawed in half. 

He tapped on something and a holoprojection of Mikaela Banes appeared on his desk. Sideswipe gasped dramatically shook with giddiness. Arcee quirked an optic brow at him before giving Optimus a questioning look. The Prime just shrugged. 

“As you two have no doubt heard, Mikaela Banes and Sam Witwicky have come to an end in their romantic relationship. Sam will continue to be guarded by Bumblebee for the foreseeable future. However, Mikaela has been approached by the Decepticon Barricade.” Optimus brought up a picture of a snarling, vicious black and white mech. No doubt, it was a picture from Bee’s memory banks. 

Optimus continued speaking, “Barricade is a scout, much like Bumblebee. Generally, he is tasked with infiltration or information gathering, but he is a formidable opponent in battle. From Ratchet’s report, it appears he has set his sights on interfacing with her.” Optimus leaned forward, a deep frown in his face. “We know the Decepitcons have taken pets and slaves of other species before, and every time they are reckless in their pursuit of pleasure.” 

“Scum,” Arcee said with a sneer. 

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sideswipe bared his denta, “but I won’t ever let her get taken away, boss. You can count on that!” 

Arcee glanced between Optimus and Sideswipe. “Sir, I get where you’re going, and I’m fine with being a guardian to the girl. All the same, why two of us?” 

Optimus let out a long ex-vent. “Mikaela hasn’t yet made a decision on which of you she wants to be her guard. I suspect it’s because her trust has been broken due to the recent break-up with Sam. In the following days, I would like for the two of you to get to know her, establish a foundation of new trust.” 

Sideswipe stood up abruptly. “Can do, Prime! I can start right now, even!” 

Optimus huffed out a laugh. “Alright, but do be a gentlemech, Sideswipe. If you think your file is absent of your romantic escapades…”

“Hey! I’m not gonna push and shove her into anything.” Sideswipe smirked. “But hey, whatever she’s open to-.”

“No, gain trust, Sideswipe. Don’t make her uncomfortable.” Optimus pointed at him. “That’s an order.”

“Ugh, fine!” Sideswipe headed out the door. “I’ll be back by nightfall!” 

Arcee turned back to Optimus with a shake of her head. “He’s so smitten with her. What is it about Mikaela that makes mechs blow all their logic processors?”

Optimus sat back, thinking about it. “I’m not quite sure, as I’m not attracted to Mikaela in that sense. I can only guess it’s what the humans would call her ‘spunk.’ She’s fearless, strong, and intelligent. Although she’s practically raised herself, she’s managed to keep a good heart.” Optimus’ azure optics caught Arcee’s. “She reminds me of a younger version of a certain tactical femme.” 

Arcee couldn’t help but puff her chest plates up a bit with pride. “So you do know how to compliment a girl, Prime.” 

Optimus waved a dismissive hand. “I merely speak the truth.” He motioned to the holoprojection of Mikaela. “Mikaela is also an apprentice to Ratchet.” 

“Oh, that’s unfortunate.” Arcee winced in sympathy. “I heard he’s really tough to work under.” 

“That’s the thing, she likes it. She enjoys the challenges he presents her. What’s even more astonishing is he enjoys her company as well.” Optimus chuckled at Arcee’s open mouthed surprise. “I know, it’s quite astonishing.” 

“How though?!” Arcee cried out. 

“I don’t know, but now perhaps you can see why I’m worried.” Optimus steepled his fingers and stared down at his desk. “Ratchet’s trust is also hard to earn, and he despises most of the other humans sent by the government to learn from him. We need more medics, and Mikaela is on the path to becoming a very competent one.” 

“Right, so it would be a shame to lose her, as both a friend and an asset.” Arcee nodded her head and thought about it. 

She’d seen Bee’s memory files of Mission City, of Mikaela saying, “I drive, you shoot!” and fighting them like a real soldier would. It was obvious Bumblebee loved her, and he hated being seperated from her, too. Ratchet cared deeply about her, and was her mentor. Arcee cared about all these dumb mechs, and if they loved her then Arcee must see if she could as well. 

“Perhaps it is a good idea for us to get to finally know each other.” Arcee grinned. “If nothing else, I would like to have a friend who is a femme. It gets so stuffy with all these mechs on base.” 

* * *

Cal Banes was under a car when his pal Edwardo came over and knocked on the passenger side door. “Hey, boss! Ya got a kid here lookin’ for ya.” 

Cal sighed as he wrenched a bolt back in place. “Lemme guess, he’s got college prep boy written all over him? Looks like someone walked up and kicked his puppy?” 

“Yeah, how’d you know?” 

“That’s Sam, alright. Throw him in the office.” He took his time finishing up before rolling out from under the tiny Ford Escort. He stood up, waving an arm to his manager, Gale. “It’s all done. Ya mind putting it down and driving it out to the customer? She’s already paid.” 

Gale nodded as she set her tools off to the side. “Yeah I got it. Keys?” 

Cal pointed. “On the wall, number three. Thanks!” 

He walked around a car battery on a trolley and serpentined through the rest of the mess in the garage. He braced himself for this talk. He’d held his baby girl as she cried on his shoulder the night she decided it was all over. Mikaela updated on Messenger about everything else. Cal wasn’t going in and busting his balls. He knew from experience that relationships weren’t easy. It was surprising that Sam came over, all the same. 

He entered the office and Sam jumped a little. 

“Jesus,” Sam put a hand over his chest. “Sorry, I’ve been on edge lately. Uh, hi.” 

“Hey,” Cal walked over. He put a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Are you ok?” He noticed that Sam’s face was paler than usual, and his eyes lacked that shine they usually had. “Take a seat, let’s talk.” 

Sam nearly collapsed in the chair. He bowed over, putting his forearms on his knees. “I’m fine, really, I’m just-.” He clasped a hand over his forehead. “I don’t know, I’ve been having these strange dreams about Egypt, like the bad ones? I just, is Mikaela ok? Is she alright?” 

Cal walked over to his mini-fridge while Sam was talking and grabbed two beers. “Yeah, she’s fine, so far as I know.” He opened the twist caps real quick and set a bottle in front of Sam. “I can text her real quick.” 

“Could you? Please?” Sam grasped the bottle and chugged for a moment. He put it back down with a small thunk. “I just need to know she’s ok. In the dreams, there...It doesn’t go well.” 

Cal sat in his office chair and pulled out his top drawer. He got out his new smartphone, some HTC thing or another. He sent out just an easy, “Hey, how’re things?” He checked the time. It should’ve been about her lunch break. 

He got a ping and a message that read, “Things are good. It’s getting really busy around here! Danni and I were thinking about coming over next weekend. Sound good?” 

Cal nodded and put the phone down. “She’s fine, son. Just workin’ is all.” He took a sip of his own beer. 

He noticed now that Sam was in sweat pants and a hoodie. Cal wondered if Sam just woke up and came over? If so, that must’ve been some nightmare. 

“You wanna talk about this dream?” Cal asked. “I’m not the most insightful guy around, but you look like hell. You really taking this break up hard, huh?” 

Sam grabbed the bottle and chugged again. “I...In the dream, it’s different from how it happened. Mikaela is there, but she’s not with me. I’m running to her, not Optimus. Optimus and the others, we’re all trying to get to her in time, but then the Fallen picks her up and…” Sam shook his head vigorously. “It’s been like that ever since we broke up. I’m terrified she’s going to get hurt, that I’m not gonna be there and the Decepticons are and-.”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down kid.” Cal put his hands up and walked around the desk. He put his hands on Sam’s shoulders, squeezing tight. “Mikaela is safe. Optimus has got all our homes wired to the wazoo. Anything comes and the Autobots will be right here. We can call them at any time! That whole new garage of hers is built tougher than Fort Knox. ‘Sides, their gettin’ her a guardian, she says. Optimus is on it.” 

Sam let out a shaky breath. “I know that, and hell, she saved me way more than I saved her! But these dreams just won’t stop.” He hung his head in shame. “I should’ve done better by her. I shouldn’t have screwed up so much.” 

“Yeah, I can agree with ya there.” Cal patted his back. “But kid, ya gotta move on. And get some help, maybe? Therapy didn’t do much for me, but it sounds like you need it.” 

“Maybe.” Sam finished off his beer. “But I just can’t shake this feeling, like this dread in the pit of my stomach, that’s something is about to go horribly wrong.” 

Cal didn’t like the sound of that, and he really didn’t like how a cold chill crawled up his spine. He wasn’t a superstitious man, but something about the way Sam said it unsettled him. Cal shook it off, and awkwardly coughed. 

“Just the anxiety talkin’.” Cal walked over to his fridge again. “Lemme get you another beer.” He’d talk to the kid for a while longer and then send him home. 

Afterwards, he’d call his daughter, just to hear her voice. 

* * *

At Mikaela’s garage, the CEO was really pleased with the work. Conroy hoped in the car and followed him back to his house. Mel and Nathan were deliberating on a color gradient job. The client was Mexican, so Mel was trying to translate the request for Nathan before he started the work. Mikaela got a break for another hour before the next client of hers rolled in for an intricate city-scape silhouette job. 

To her surprise, a silver corvette came rolling into the parking lot. Mikaela sighed and braced herself. Sideswipe parked off to the side. His holoform popped out from the driver’s side. He grinned at her with pearly white teeth. 

“Hey there, Mikaela.” He walked over, a bit of a saunter to his step. “Heard you were lookin’ for a guardian? I came to apply for the position.” 

Mikaela crossed her arms. “Well, how about part one, are you at all qualified to watch over a human?” 

“I’m an Autobot, for one. We’ve all kind of sworn to protect humanity?” Sideswipe slid over to her side. He put a hand on her shoulder while waving his other hand around. “I suppose I could regale you with epic tales, about how I’ve beaten Decepticons back single handedly with no backup?” 

“And I could counter with the stories I’ve heard from Ratchet about you running straight into traps on the battlefield. What was it, Titanus 4? You managed to blow both your legs off.” Mikaela shrugged his hand off her shoulder. “Look, I gotta work for a while longer. Come back after hours and we can talk or something.”

“Fine, fine, I guess I can go make myself busy patrolling.” Sideswipe put a finger in the air and motioned around in a circle. “I’ll be around the edges of the city, like usual. Anything you need while I’m out?” 

Mikaela thought about it, then nodded. “Would you mind picking up some groceries for me? I haven’t had time this week to get anything.” 

“Sure, just text me a list.” Sideswipe tapped his temple. “It’ll be easier that way.” 

“Right,” Mikaela brought out her phone, “if this stupid thing will work. It’s been acting strange for weeks now. I should get it replaced, but it’s survived since Mission City! I love this stupid old brick.” 

“Not worth it! Just upgrade.” Sideswipe held out his hand. “Here, I can get you a new one, transfer everything over, the works. Come on, give it to me.” 

Mikaela stared at it for a second, then shook her head. “Maybe later. I got to have it today for work.” 

Sideswipe shrugged. “Your call. I’ll head out for a bit. See ya later!” 

* * *

Barricade was having negative zero luck. An exhausted Frenzy was laying in his backseat as Barricade drove down from Northern California. Up there had been a secret private company facility working on something called SKYNET. Although the idea of TX1000 was promising, it wasn’t an All Spark fragment. 

He’d hit a few more spots, trying his luck with an old FBI bunker and safe house listed for NEST use. Nothing in there but the usual human safe house things for government workers. He’d managed to get his hands on a few blueprints for other facilities on the East Coast near D.C. 

As he sent his updates to Soundwave, he again received a ping back. 

[At the very least, you are not calling in empty handed.] Soundwave said ominously. 

Barricade winced. Poor Razorlight and Motorclash must’ve lost all leads. Arguably, so had Barricade, but he wasn’t going to point that out to Soundwave. 

[Have there been any new signs of the All Spark energy?] Barricade asked. 

[As you know, the scans are on a delay. It takes time for the energy reading to reach the Nemesis. So far, it still moves at random, settles, then moves again. At times, it will go dormant or be in hiding. As of today, no new energy readings.] 

Barricade pulled off to the side of the road. On his HUD he brought up the scans again. Each of them was slightly different, the yellow lines carving in random squiggles over the mapped landscapes of Earth. He stared at them, trying to piece together a pattern, but didn’t get one. 

[I guess my next step is just following these trails. Surely one of them is used for something? I don’t know of any government facility on any of them, though.] 

[Could it not be a governmental facility?] 

[If it were a private company, I would expect more news about technological advances. Something Cybertronian suddenly hitting the market. I’ve been keeping tabs, and nothing.] Barricade’s tone leaked a bit of his frustration.

As usual, Soundwave caught it. [Don’t allow your emotions to compromise the mission. Stay on task. Do what Lord Megatron trusts in you to do.]

Barricade felt his anger slip away. His respect for Lord Megatron was high, and Soundwave knew it. It helped put his headspace right. [Heard, Commander. I just need to work harder. Figure this out faster.]

[Good, I will send you any readings I receive.]

The comms cut out. Barricade wanted to drive further down and drink an energon ration before recharging. His HUD showed an Autobot reading going into Mikaela’s garage, for the second time that day. He growled a little, but told himself Mikaela wasn’t in danger. They were her friends, dammit. 

He groaned. Frenzy jerked awake. Immediately, he soothed at him with Cybertronian, “It’s alright, Frenzy. Your creator and I were just talking. Go back to recharge.” 

“Boss-bot, I’m hungry,” Frenzy’s voice was rough with static. Not a good sign. 

Barricade got back on the road. “Hold on. Lemme get somewhere we can’t be seen.” He flashed his lights and drove at top speed down the highway. At the first exit, he peeled off. 

He got lucky. The road had an old abandoned restaurant and literally nothing else. He pulled in behind it. Frenzy limped out to let him transform. Barricade was quick to get out his ration. He glowing cube of energon pulsed in his hand. 

“Come here, I got you.” Barricade lifted up the little symbiote and gently tilted the energon into Frenzy’s intakes. 

Frenzy guzzled down quite a bit. Barricade let him take it. He could run on whatever was left over and be just fine for days. Not many days, but he’d find the All Spark fragment before he ran out. Frenzy stopped drinking, and Barricade settled him down on the ground. Frenzy still hd his head down, his shoulder lax. 

“Hey buddy, what’s wrong?” Barricade gently propped the symbiote’s head up. “Are you alright? Talk to me.” 

“Tired,” Frenzy said. “Very tired.” 

Barricade stood up and motioned vaguely at his shin. “Go ahead and get in, then. I’ll let you recharge for a whole day, ok?” 

Frenzy hobbled into his compartment. When Barricade felt Frenzy’s systems connect to his, he ran a diagnostic. Energon levels, normal. Operating systems, normal. Just to be safe, he ran an anti-virus program on both himself and Frenzy. It was rare that something passed from host to symbiote or the other way around, but he didn’t want to take chances.

The program came back negative. Barricade didn’t trust it. When he returned to the Nemesis with success, he’d get Hook or Knock Out to see what was wrong. 

* * *

Mikaela put the groceries away up in her loft fridge. Sideswipe was lounging on her desk chair in his holoform. His mechanical self was moving the pieces of Cybertronian sheet metal that she couldn’t pickup herself. 

“What were you even using this stuff for?” Sideswipe asked. 

“I was just practicing things that Ratchet taught me. I could get it down there, but it’s easier if you and Teletran just hook up and do it.” Mikaela squashed down the guilt she felt from lying to him. It didn’t sting as much as lying to Optimus, but it didn’t feel good either. 

“That’s cool.” Sideswipe rolled around in her chair in a circle. “Do ya wanna go for a ride?” 

Mikaela closed her fridge, then turned around to glare at him suspiciously. “Is that an innuendo or-?” 

“Nah, there’s a carnival that just arrived outside of town. I was thinking you might want to have some fun? You’ve been working a lot lately.” Sideswipe stood up, hands in his fake jean pockets. “They’ve got a mini-roller coaster, that anti-gravity thingie, the tea cups, the whole cheap works.” 

Mikaela looked at the clock. “I need to be back and in bed by ten.” 

“Yes, ma’am, copy that.” 

On the car ride over, Mikaela and Sideswipe sand along to some Lady Gaga and anything else on the radio. It didn’t take but fifteen minutes to get across the small town and to the carnival. Mikaela wore a simple blue jeans and t-shirt combo with some old converse sneakers. Sideswipe opened her door for her, and Mikaela rolled her eyes at him as she got out.

“Thanks, but I know how to open a door,” Mikaela said. 

“Optimus ordered me to be a gentlemech, and I am a loyal soldier,” Sideswipe said with a wink. 

Sideswipe walked with her through the crowd to the ticket gate. He put a credit card in and ordered two tickets. Mikaela knew the card was on credit to Sideswipe’s actual bank account. They got them and headed into the turnstiles. 

“I could’ve paid, too.” Mikaela shrugged. “But thanks, again.” 

Sideswipe waved his hand. “I’m the one bringing you out. It’s my treat. You can pay next time.” He grabbed her hand. “Come on, the coaster ride is short!” 

“It’s a weekday! Everything is gonna have short lines!” Mikaela laughed despite herself. They got into the seats. 

The dragon coaster wasn’t very long, but the turns were just tilted right to make her stomach drop. The drops made her giggle and cry out. All around, not bad for a ten buck entrance fee. Sideswipe took her around to the carousel, and Mikaela got on the dolphin. Sideswipe chose a unicorn, because of course he did. 

Mikaela ended up getting candied walnuts instead of cotton candy. She paid for the double size bag. She ate them as they walked slowly towards the anti-gravity ride. 

“You know, I don’t think I ever went to something like this with Sam.” Mikaela turned to Sideswipe with a sad smile. “It’s funny how you look back when something is over and you realize there were hints it wasn’t going to last.” She sighed. “We went to the movies, sometimes. We went to dinner, I guess. We made plans to go on vacation together, but it always fell through. There was college, internships, something and something else.” 

Sideswipe nodded solemnly. “Most spoiled rich kids are kind of like that. Sam is nice, but he’s always going to have that entitlement problem. He’s better than most, I think, I mean he did die to save the Earth. Still, it makes for poor boyfriend or bonded material.” 

“Yeah,” Mikaela nodded, “I know, but I held out some hope that he’d grow up and...I don’t know, not change, just mature?” 

“I think that’s gonna be a while longer yet.” Sideswipe gestured to her and himself. “We have been through a lot. I was born a low caste worker, doomed to do drudgery work, but I fought my way out of that. You were a convict’s kid, and now you’ve got your own business. Sam isn’t made of the same stuff. He’s gonna keep following that path his parents walked down, the path already smoothed out before him before he was even born.” 

Sideswipe shrugged and said, “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it, but it’ll take a long time to get how to be there for people, to think of others truly first, not just in theory. Maybe after he’s worked a while or something.” 

“Maybe,” she bit her lip, “but you said you were born low caste? I didn’t know that.” 

“Oh yeah, back before the war. My brother Sunstreaker and I were just workers. We weren’t ever supposed to get modded, or even our paint changed. But Sunstreaker had this dream. He wanted to be an artist. He wanted to paint and create, so he did.” Sideswipe’s smile faltered. “We got caught trying to sell his stuff once, and it didn’t go well. We had to flee to Kaon. I’ll spare you the details, but I did a lot of stuff I’m not proud of to get us by.” 

Mikaela stopped and turned to him. “Sideswipe, I’m not going to judge you for doing what you had to do to survive.”

“I know, but I’d rather not get into it. It’s supposed to be a fun time.” He waved a hand in the air. “It’s all in the past anyways. Sunstreaker is the best custom painter in the Autobots. He’s off with the Wreckers right now, doing Primus knows what. I’m here, helping Optimus. It worked out.”

Mikaela winced. “I don’t know if a civil war is really the kind of happy ending I would pick to a story.” 

“Yeah, well, with any luck we can finish off the Decepticons here. Then there’ll be a happy ending.” Sideswipe pointed to the ride. “Go on in. I can’t fake the anti-gravity stuff well, so I’ll hold your nuts.” 

“There’s a sentence.” Mikaela handed him the bag and ran up to the attendant. 

She walked inside. She looked left and right, but no one else was inside. Mikaela went over to right side, placing her back against the wall. The attendant came in and secured her with a flimsy black cord. 

“Ok, you’re all set.” The attendant left, closing the door behind her. 

Mikaela’s eyes wandered around, looking at the fake lighting for “stars” and the empty spaces where there should’ve been people. The silence was a bit unnerving, but the ride would go on soon. The lights went dim and she heard the hydraulics kick in. 

The room rotated around, slowly at first. Mikaela remembered when she was a kid this was her favorite ride. She’d beg her dad to get in it again and again. She liked the talk they’d had at lunch, just catching up on everything. The room sped up again, and Mikaela smiled. 

She giggled as the weightlessness came on. In a freefall feeling, she let go of her thoughts for a moment. She closed her eyes, hearing only the sound of her heartbeat and the hydraulics. 

Crackle. Zip. 

Mikaela gasped. She looked down. In her pocket, white light zapped out. Mikaela cried out. “SHIT! Stop the ride! STOP!” The phone in her pocket crackled, popped, more white light dancing over her jeans. 

“FUCK!” Mikaela hesitated, but grabbed at it.   
She screamed as it shocked her arm. She tossed it, but it just levitated in front of her. On the phone screen was UNKNOWN CALLER. The lightning arched from the phone to her hand, shocking her again. 

This time, she felt it travel through her arm and up. She flung her arm away, cutting off the current. She struggled against the cord holding her back, but it wouldn’t budge. The phone crackled again, and Mikaela saw cracks appear on the screen. 

BOOM! A huge burst slammed into her chest. Mikaela flung her head back. It seared into her, she could feel it etching into her skin, bones, more. It didn’t make any sense! How could a phone do this?! 

The pain hit all at once, like a thousand fires burning her flesh, pure agony. She screamed again before the world went dark. 


	4. Discoveries

“Hey, are you ok?”

Mikaela opened her eyes. “Huh?” She looked up. Her vision faded in and out, but finally focused on the face in front of her. 

The attendant from before was shaking her shoulder. “Did you pass out? We’ve got a nurse’s tent nearby. I can call for them to help you over there.” 

“Um...” Mikaela sucked in a breath, remembering. She looked down at her arm. Nothing. No signs of any scarring or bruising at all. Confused, she said, “My phone, it just exploded on me.” 

“What, really?” The attendant searched the floor beneath them, then looked behind. “Oh hey, there it is, WHOA!” She picked it up, pinching it with her forefinger and thumb. 

The cell phone was a blackened, cracked up mess. The attendant made a face as she turned back around. “Yeah, that’s super dead.” 

Mikaela stared at it. “It electrocuted me, and it hurt so bad.” 

“Shit, ok, let me get the nurse. I’ll be right back, just stay there.” The attendant set the phone down and ran outside. Mikaela heard her say something to someone. A second later, Sideswipe was coming in hot. 

“Are you alright?! What happened?” Sideswipe saw the remnants of her phone and blanched.

“It exploded on me.” Mikaela groaned, lifting a hand to her aching head. “Electrocuted the hell outta me, too.” 

“What? How? They’re not even supposed to be able to do that.” Sideswipe picked it up to examine it. “Huh, weird, it’s not coming from the battery compartment.” He turned it over, looking at the back. “How odd.” He set it back down and moved in front of her. 

“I’m going to do a quick exam.” Sideswipe put his finger in front of her face. “Can you follow with just your eyes?” She did, with no problems. “Ok, that’s good. Tell your name and city of birth.” 

“Mikaela Banes, I was born in Tranquility.” She laughed. “Well, not really, but that’s the name.” 

“Haha, very funny.” Sideswipe picked up her hands. He flipped them back and forth. “I guess the charge must’ve been low grade. I’m not seeing any marks.” 

“It hurt so bad. It went up my arm, it felt like it was crawling into my brain. Then it hit my chest.” She pointed at her sternum. “Felt like getting bunched with lightning.” 

Sideswipe touched the bottom of her shirt. “May I? I just want to take a look.” 

Mikaela nodded her consent. Sideswipe gently pulled it up. He touched along where Mikaela pointed. “Anything sore? Pain at all?”

“No?” Mikaela shook her head, and regretted it. “Just the splitting headache.” 

Sideswipe put the shirt down. “I can’t see any damage there. I guess you got lucky? The electricity must’ve had more impact because of the anti-gravity, but not enough to cause permanent harm.” 

“Hello? Excuse me.” A man in blue jeans with a button up white shirt came into the room. The attendant followed in after him. “Ok, let’s get you down and see what’s up.” 

Mikaela and Sideswipe gave him the abridged version of their look over and assessment. The nurse looked her over anyway, taking his time to feel her pulse and ask a few more questions. The obligatory, “Any chance you could be pregnant?” was met with a hearty laugh. “Nope, none at all.” 

After a good ten minutes of checking her over, the nurse finally brought out some ibuprofen and a water bottle. “So far as I can tell, you’re in alright shape. I recommend going to your GP or nearest available clinic tomorrow and just double checking. An electric shock from a phone shouldn’t be a cause for worry, but passing out could be an underlying health condition issue.” 

Sideswipe helped her get back to his car form. Mikaela shuffle walked, unable to concentrate well. When she finally slumped into the passenger side, she leaned back and groaned. Sideswipe got in on the driver’s side. 

“I’m taking you home. I’ve got Ratchet on comm. He’s coming over early tomorrow. He says to tell you not to argue, he doesn’t wanna hear it.” Sideswipe fell silent for a second, his eyes staring off into the air for a bit. “Optimus is asking if you’re alright.” 

“I’m fine, I think?” Mikaela turned to look at his holoform self and tried to give him a smile. She knew it probably looked like a grimace, but she had to try. “Tell Ratchet not to worry so much.” 

Sideswipe shook his head vigorously. “He likes you, you can tell him that later.” 

The drive back was more subdued. Sideswipe apologized for dropping her candied nuts in his hurry to get to her. Otherwise, it was mostly silence. Mikaela’s head pounded between her ears. The worst migraine of her life, by far, and she didn’t know if it would ever let up. 

They arrived at the garage. Sideswipe helped her to her room. He plopped himself in her chair. “I’m under orders from Ratchet to monitor you overnight. He’s demanding hourly check ins.” 

“Oh my God,” Mikaela rubbed at her temples, “whatever. I’m taking a shower and going to bed. You promise to behave yourself?” 

“Absolutely.” Sideswipe put his hands up. “I’m not doing anything except sitting here and keeping an eye on you. That’s all.” 

“Cool.” Mikaela took a step towards her bathroom. Out of habit she reached for her phone. “Say, did you pick up the phone? Before we left?” 

“Yeah, it’s in my subspace right now. Ratchet wants to take a look at it. Arcee is getting you a new one. She’s looking into the latest versions and then adding a little upgrade here and there. It should be ready in a couple of days.” Sideswipe froze, then looked out her door. “I could go ask Teletran-E2 to scan it, actually. Would you mind? I’ll be right back.” 

“Yeah, go for it.” Mikaela called out as he left, “Be sure to put everything back the way you found it! I’m not sure I’ll have time in the morning.” 

“Got it!” 

With a sigh, Mikaela walked into the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, then looked into the mirror. She lifted her shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor. She unhooked her bra and let it just drop. Nothing, nothing at all. She touched at the center of her chest, even going up with her fingertips along her breast bone. No pain, not even a bit sensitive. 

She frowned at her reflection. It was so strange. She knew without it doubt it hit her right there. She looked at her hand and arm again, looking at the back and front. Nothing except her usual freckles and moles. Giving up on it for now, she got out of the rest of her clothes. 

Usually, Mikaela would take time to really wash through her thick black hair, but with the pulsing pain in her cranium she just ran some water through it with her showerhead up close. She kept staring down, trying to see any sign of what happened, but nothing ever showed up. 

After the shower and toweling off, she went into her room to throw on some pajamas. Sideswipe came in just as she was getting into bed. He grabbed the chair and rolled over to the side of her bed. 

“I’ll be right here if you need me.” 

Mikaela nodded. “Goodnight.” She closed her eyes. The painkillers must’ve kicked in, because the pain suddenly lessened. 

She drifted. Not quite asleep, but not awake. Her limbs were like lead, unable to move. A rushing, falling sensation stole over her. Lights flickered in front of her eyes, dancing on her eyelids. 

The dream started off with her in a tower. High above the city, she gazed out across the vast expanse, watching the mecha below go about their lives. Arms wrapped around her waist from behind, squeezing her close. They stood there together, just watching. 

Megatronus kissed her audial. “Let’s retire. I want to savor you. Vector Sigma can wait.” 

She turned around to kiss him. “My love, I’m needed there. We’ve had three days together.” 

“It’s never enough,” Megatronus said, murmuring against her lips. “I must go to this mud ball planet soon. It’ll be my last chance to see you for some time.” 

She nuzzled her nasal ridge against his jaw line. “I have a surprise for you, when you get back.” 

Megatronus pushed her away to cup her face. “Did you make it? The weapon I asked for?” 

She laughed. “You’ll when you get back! Now, I must return to the All Spark and Vector Sigma. I have to create the new batch. There is a long list of expectant parents.” 

Megatronus growled, a deep and possessive bass sound. It made her shiver down her spinal struts. “One day, I shall kindle you.” 

“Our work is not yet done.” She said, kissing him against his cheek. “But soon, very soon, we can live in peace and have those little sparklings you so desire.” 

Megatronus kissed her forehead. “We could get started now?” 

She ex-vented. “Incorrigible.” 

“Only for you.” Megatronus brought his hands down, grabbing her aft, lifting her up against him. He walked two steps over, settling her upon a dais. “Open for me, Solus.” 

The blaring of the alarm shattered the dreamscape. Mikaela cried out in protest and threw a pillow over to her nightstand. Something clattered, fell, and shattered. She heard Sideswipe laugh and move over to pick up her mess. 

“Ratchet’s about ten away. You might wanna get up and get down stairs.” Sideswipe tugged at her blankets. Mikaela grumbled, tugging them back up. “Oh, come on, what are you, a youngling?” 

Mikaela groaned as she sat up. She held a hand to her head. It didn’t hurt as much as yesterday, thank God, but it still ached. Sideswipe brought a tray in front of her. 

“I made you some scrambled eggs and toast. No coffee, Ratchet said it could make your headache worse.” Mikaela stared at him, surprised, and Sideswipe shrugged. “I was bored and there are like a thousand tutorials on YouTube on how to make good eggs.” 

Picking up her knife and fork, Mikaela took a bite of the eggs. “Mmm, not bad.” She smiled at the jam on her toast. “This is really nice. It’s been,” she tried to think of the last time, but she couldn’t even remember Sam doing it for her, “forever since someone brought me breakfast in bed.”   
  
“The benefits of having me as a guardian.” Sideswipe stood up suddenly. He turned his head toward the door. “Ratchet is nearly here.” 

“Ok, I’ll hurry.” Mikaela scarfed down the food, which was a damn shame because it was actually rather tasty. Sideswipe quickly took the tray to the small kitchen. Just as he was coming back, Ratchet’s holo-form came from the steps with a medic’s kit at hand. 

Ratchet’s holo-form was a rotund man with blue eyes and blonde hair. His haircut was what Miakela called a “dad-cut,” just long enough to brush his ears. He wore his typical EMT outfit, white shirt on top with dark blue pants on the bottom. 

Ratchet said, “Stay in that bed until I get a look at everything. Sideswipe, get out and close the door.”  
“Yes, sir.” Sideswipe did as asked. 

Immediately, Ratchet assessed her just as the nurse did the night before. He asked her questions as he did, and Mikaela gave him the full run down of the incident. He brought his handy-dandy scanner from his bag afterwards and did a full body check. 

“Well, there does appear to be some internal bruising. It’s not much in terms of damage, but I can see how you’d get a headache.” Ratchet reached in his bag again. He took out an orange bottle with a white cap. “I’ve got you a seven day eletriptan prescription. Take with food, don’t take any ibuprofen with it, and only two a day. Stay away from coffee.” 

“Got it Ratchet.” Mikaela took the pill bottle. “You didn’t have to come all the way out here for me.” 

“Nonsense,” Ratchet closed up his bag, “you’re just as much my patient as Optimus or that dingbat waiting outside.” He moved to sit beside her, dropping his medic mask for a moment. “Mikaela, is there anything else you want to tell me?” 

Blindsided, she shook her head. “No, nothing else. I swear I didn’t leave anything out-.”

“Mikaela, that’s not what I mean.” Ratchet put a hand on her shoulder. “A lot has been going on. Have you been talking to friends about it? Have you been taking care of yourself?” 

“Yes and yes, I’m fine.” Mikaela gulped down a sudden tightening in her throat. “I’m ok, really.” Tears started welling up in her eyes. She brought her hands up and tried to shake it off. “I’m not some weak little girl, ya know.” 

“I’m not saying you are, and you know it.” Ratchet wrapped his arms around her. Mikaela let herself get drawn into the tight hug. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks. You thought it was going to be a fun time, but it all went south. Physical trauma doesn’t help when things are already stressful.” 

Mikaela sniffled and nodded. “I hate that you’re wise, like a lot.” 

“I know, it makes me just the worst at parties.” He squeezed her tight. “You’re allowed to cry. Let it out.” 

Mikaela hesitated, but hugged him back. She needed to work soon, but for just a bit, she let herself be taken care of. 

* * *

Barricade was following a trail on the scans. It was actually just a normal highway, one he frequently used to travel across town. The alert popped up on his HUD of an incoming transmission from Soundwave. He accepted the ping immediately. 

[There was a spike in All Spark energy. I’m sending the scan now.] 

The map hit his coordinates, shocking the police cruiser. [I know exactly where that is!] He threw on his siren and put his holoform in the driver’s seat. Doing a very illegal u-turn, he raced out of the town and towards the sea. 

Soundwave asked, [What is it? A government facility? A company warehouse?] 

[Neither! It’s a carnival, an amusement park.] Barricade swerved around the morning traffic. [I’m en route right now. I will update you as soon as I know anything.] 

When he arrived at the park, it was closed down. He hopped out of the driver side door anyway. In his holoform, he walked to the fence gate. With a quick climb over, he was in the park. Using the scan as reference, he zeroed in on exactly the point of origin for the burst in the All Spark energy. 

“What the frag?” He said aloud. “Anti-Gravity Thrills!” was the sign pointing with a large yellow arrow to the park ride. He walked up to it, quickly ascending the steps to the entrance. When he discovered the door was locked, he looked around quickly for any sign of humans or cameras. Nothing as far as he could sense. 

Taking the risk, he simply phased his form into the room. He scanned the interior with his holoform eyes, looking around for any sign of the All Spark. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but didn’t want to take any chances. He searched every inch of the interior, looking for anything unusual. 

Finally, he came upon a scorch mark on the floor. Squinting at it, he touched the space. He didn’t feel any residual energy, but that didn’t mean anything. The All Spark was a fickle creation, often deciding seemingly at random when and where it wanted to come online. Sometimes it left traces in machinery, but this contraption apparently didn’t suit its tastes. 

He sent the scorch mark finding to Soundwave. [I think something happened in here. I’m beginning to suspect the All Spark is with someone unaffiliated with a government or company.]

Soundwave responded, [A civilian holding the All Spark? But how?] 

[No idea.] Barricade stood up and flickered out of the ride. He reappeared in his driver side seat. With a glare at the park, he tried to think of his next move. Something felt off, as if his answer was just out of reach. [Civilians were present at the battle of Mission City.]   
[True, but Sam Witwicky has no shards.] 

The firm belief in his tone meant Soundwave must’ve sent someone to check through the boy’s residence at some point. [Who else then?]

[The girl.]

Barricade’s tanks dropped. He scrambled to think of any other logical deduction, but his processor came up with nothing. [That is one possibility.] He shot back. [I will look through her abode and the new workplace. If she possesses it, I will find it.] 

[Understood. I will await your findings.]

When the connection cut out, Barricade sat idle in the parking lot. He allowed the idea to finally hit home. He picked up the scans from his files. He put the scans atop each other, letting the lines overlay. “Oh no,” he said aloud. 

The lines didn’t have a pattern, but they did have a central point. Like a starburst to the west of the city, the energy signatures all converged together. Barricade knew those coordinates very well: Mikaela’s garage and home. 

* * *

Ratchet left with Sideswipe right before Mikaela needed to open the garage. He ordered Mikaela to send him an update on her condition at the end of the day with the datapad. She agreed while shooing him back to base. Before she started working, she updated her Facebook and Twitter with her phone issue and to contact her on her home line. 

Work consisted of her and Mel doing the city-scape on the new client’s car. Mikaela did a night scene gradient with a crescent moon and white stars. The client didn’t specify, but did note their favorite colors as blue and silver. Working with that, Mikaela took the whole day to outline and shade the sporty little Honda. Mel followed after her with a primer coat. Nathan and Conroy worked on some motorcycle jobs, just some easy little detailing work from the campaign sale. 

When the house line rang, she smiled as she picked it up. “Hello?” She figured she knew who it was before Barricade even spoke.

“Hey, I’m coming over. Any Autobots coming for a visit again? What was with all the friends headin’ to yours?”

“I’ll explain when you get here. Something a little crazy happened.” She bit her lip. “How’d your mission go?” 

There was a long pause before he said, “Oh, you know, still working on it. I’ll bring dinner if you want. Crazing anything in particular?” 

Mikaela thought about it. “I actually would rather make my own dinner. I’ve got a bunch of groceries in my fridge I need to use. But if you wouldn’t mind picking up a dessert? Dairy Queen is on the way here. I’d like a big Blizzard with M&Ms.” 

“Can do! Heading over now.” 

“Thanks, see you soon.” Mikaela hung up the phone. 

She decided to make herself a simple stir fry with rice combo. Right after dinner, Mikaela took the second dose of her migraine medicine. Throughout the day, her head bothered her, but not enough to make her stop. 

She walked downstairs to go through the garage, locking up the store front and arming the garage for the night. At the side door, she opened to the parking lot just as Barricade rolled into the parking lot. She walked out to meet him. 

Barricade flashed his lights at her before his holoform got out of the car with the Blizzard in hand. “Hey babe, wanna get in for a ride?” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes. “What a terrible line.” She walked over anyway and took the milk shake. “And no, not interested in going anywhere. I just want to stay home.” 

Barricade got in close. He brushed his knuckles against her cheek. “Alright, I’m good with that. What happened? Are you alright?” 

“Yes, but no? Let me tell you all about it.” She sat on his hood, telling him everything. Barricade didn’t quip or ask questions, just listened to her talk. Mikaela pointed to her head and talked about her migraine that wouldn’t go away, too. 

After she was done, Barricade was silent for a long time, simply staring at her. Mikaela stared back at him. “I promise, it’s just a headache, but I’m not really up for anything...big. Not like last time.” 

“Yeah,” Barricade nodded absently, “yeah I understand.” He opened his mouth, closed it, then finally said, “How about we just go upstairs? I know some really bad movies that deserve to be degraded harshly. What do ya say?” 

Mikaela nodded. “I can agree to that.” 

Later on her bed, Barricade had them bundled up in blankets and pillows. He’d changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt in the blink of an eye before making them into blanket burritos. Mikaela was in a long t-shirt and some pajama shorts. They watched a terrible found footage movie about people trying to find something inside of a pyramid, something about a curse, the plotline hinging on some McGuffin or another to stop the curse. 

“I bet you the dumb femme with huge boobs dies first,” Barricade said. 

“Probably, or the dude with the tattoo on his face. He screams ‘dude who will run away like a coward,’ ya know?” They both laughed as the group in the movie got attacked by mummified cats, of all things. “Oh nooooo, why?” 

Barricade couldn’t deal. He kept laughing and laughing. “Primus bless human cinema!” 

They jeered at the bad special effects of the actual villain of the movie, which was Anubis for some strange reason. Mikaela told Barricade all the ways in which the Egyptian God of Death really shouldn’t be in some random tomb, but instead down in the underworld doing his job. 

Barricade asked her, “Wait, but I thought that was the devil’s job?”

“No, it’s different.” Mikaela sighed. “Christians are Heaven and Hell stuff with only one God, the ancient Egyptians had many Gods and a world of the dead. The devil tortures people’s souls forever. Anubis is...not that.” 

“Interesting.” As the credits rolled, Barricade shuffled a little to face her, “For us, most Cybertronians believe more or less the same thing. We’ve got the All Spark, the cube which creates life. Once we perish, our sparks return to it, to create new life once again.” 

Mikaela nodded. “I read about it, and Ratchet told me a little. So did Primus make the All Spark?” 

“Uh, yes and no?” Barricade smiled wide. “It depends on who tells the story. See, some legends portend that the All Spark burst from the spark of Primus. Then, in other stories, Solus Prime used her mighty hammer to forge the All Spark from the essence of Primus in Vector Sigma. Another romantic version has it that Megatronus, the Fallen Prime, stole the All Spark from Primus to gift his beloved.” 

Mikaela let out a small laugh. “Wait, they were real?” 

“Yeah, very real. You fought against Megatronus in Egypt.” Barricade sighed and squirmed. “By the time you saw him, Megatronus was a faded version of his former glory. He used to be...more.” He stared off into space for a moment. “No one really knows what happened to Solus. She was our All Mother, and the loss of her cuts deep.” 

Mikaela sat up, cupping her head with her hand to look down at him. “Do you want to hear something weird?” 

“Yeah, sure, shoot.” 

Mikaela bit her lip. “I’ve been having these really intense dreams. In the dreams I’m Solus, and Megatronus is there.” She rolled her eyes. “I figure it’s like, I don’t know, a subconscious analogy for our...thing we’re doing.” 

Barricade froze. His eyes blew wide and he sat up to face her fully. “How long have you had those dreams?” 

“I don’t know, for a while? They’re not every day or anything. I had one last night, it felt kind of more real than it did before. I saw a city, and it wasn’t a city like on Earth.” Mikaela rolled over to lay down on the bed. “I know they’re just dreams, but it’s kind of strange, right? To be dreaming about some Primes I never really knew or met? I’ve just read about them, and honestly, weirdest part? I didn’t know the Fallen’s name was Megatronus.” 

She noticed that Barricade didn’t move. He stared down at the bed, his shoulders rigid and set. Mikaela put a hand on his chest. “Hey, are you alright?” 

“Yeah,” Barricade snapped out whatever funk he fell into, “it’s nothing. You’re right, that’s weird. But dreams always are, right?” 

“Right.” Mikaela rubbed at her temples, the ache creeping back into her skull. “So, Megatron? Megatronus? That’s very similar.” 

Barricade nodded. “Megatron named himself to honor him before they even met.” He laid back down, staring up at the ceiling. 

For awhile, they just stayed silent. Mikaela rubbed at her temples, trying to make the ache go away. Barricade was off in his own thoughts. Eventually, Barricade rolled over and brought a hand up to rub gently at her forehead. 

“Try to go to sleep,” he said softly. “I’ll be here when you wake up.” He kept gently running his fingers through her hair, massaging his fingers along the crown of her hairline. His thumb rubbed in circles at her temple. 

Mikaela’s eyes fluttered shut. She hoped by morning the pain would be gone.

* * *

Barricade’s spark hurt. It twisted within his chassis, torn between his duty and his femme. Throughout the night, he thought about his options, debating the right choice. He was no fool, if he brought Mikaela to the Decepticons she wouldn’t survive. They’d lock her away, or worse, they would try to “extract” the All Spark energy from her somehow, killing her. As a prisoner, Mikaela wouldn’t last, he knew it. 

He held her close, lightly kissing her temple. Megatron would order her to be thrown in a hold, maybe given meals, maybe given a place to rest, but none of the rooms in the brig were designed for a human. She would freeze in the cold, dark cell. Her handlers wouldn’t treat her with kind servos. 

Outside, Barricade transformed into his root mode. He cradled his helm, trying to decide a plan of action. Should he lie? Deflect? But Soundwave already knew she must hold the All Spark. He couldn’t lie to him, not completely. Maybe a half truth? But if Soundwave discovered Barricade tried to deceive him, then he would be dead and no help to Mikaela at all. She’d end up on the Nemesis alone. 

Barricade looked over at the garage. The big letters of “The Forge” hung up in the dark. He knew how hard Mikaela worked to get her own business off the ground. Her potential as a medic was yet unfulfilled. How could he tear her away from her life? 

He couldn’t. It was that simple. He’d done some monstrous things for the Decepticon cause, but taking Mikaela to her doom wasn’t going to be his sin to carry. 

Mind made up, he sent a ping to Soundwave. [I’ve searched through the garage and the loft. I couldn’t find any sign of the All Spark. However, I will search the other homes she has lived in before. With any luck, I’ll get it soon.] 

[Understood. Razorlight and Motorclash are available to assist.] 

Barricade squashed down his panic. He took a moment, then responded, [Inadvisable. The Autobots could pop up at the boy’s place, or even the girl’s old domicile. I know their routes and alt modes. I doubt Razorlight and Motorclash even know what stealth is...no offense, Commander.] 

[None taken, your assessment is accurate. Very well, I will recall them to the Nemesis.] 

Barricade winced. He hated to think of the beating they would surely get for their failure, but he wasn’t particularly attached to them. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make. [Heard. I will update as soon as I can. I’ll be going dark for a few days, just to be safe in Autobot territory.]

[A wise choice. I shall await your findings.] 

Barricade ex-vented long and hard. Alright, he bought himself some time. Now, he needed to figure out how to save Mikaela from the clutches of the Decepticons, and what he was willing to do in order to protect her. 


	5. Hazards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, so some situations arose personally and I ended up being in a bad head space for writing this past week. I'm sorry, I was on a roll and thought I could bang this out real quick, but it's been tough to concentrate. Things are settling now, but even still I'm a little out of center for fics and writing in general. Please be patient with me, I will try to upload more soon.

When Mikaela woke up, she turned into the warm body beside her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and sighed in relief. No headache, fantastic. Barricade was reading a book again, his mouth set in a small frown. She kept her breathing even, just relaxing in his arms. 

She looked over at the alarm clock. A whole hour earlier than she was supposed to wake up, what the hell? She nearly closed her eyes again to catch up on sleep, but...Rubbing her thighs together, Mikaela recalled the other night, when Barricade put his fingers inside her. 

Sitting up a little, she plucked the book out of Barricade’s hands, tossing it to the floor. Barricade’s eyes went wide, but a pleased smile appeared a second later when she straddled his lap. 

“Hey there,” he said as he put his hands on her hips. 

Mikaela leaned down to kiss him, putting her hands on his shoulders for balance. He opened for her easily, groaning as she sucked on his bottom lip harshly. Mikaela rocked her hips against him. 

“I wanna get on you,” Mikaela said. She pulled her shirt off, tossing it aside. Barricade phased off his pants. The only thing keeping her from him was the slim fabric of her shorts. Feeling flirty, she rocked along his shaft. 

Barricade brought his hands up. One splayed out over her stomach, while the other cupped one of her breasts. He thumbed at one, and she gasped. It felt electric! Mikaela lifted herself up to her knees. Awkwardly, she shimmed her shorts down and off. 

Shifting forward, she grabbed one of his hands, bringing it down. Barricade got the hint real quick. He slid a finger against her clit, and Mikaela moaned. She tilted her hips forward, letting him get better access. She flung her head back when a single finger dipped inside, then pushed deep, deep inside. 

Without warning, he stopped to grind his palm up against her mound. His fingers circled, then scissored her, curling and making room for him. Mikaela put a hand up to bite at her knuckle. Fuck, she loved how gently he took her. 

“You’re already so wet.” Barricade’s red eyes lit up. “Feeling needy?” 

“Yes!” Mikaela’s hips stuttered when a second finger easily joined the first. “Oh, don’t stop!” 

He laughed as he glided his fingers in and out of her, slow and measured. He played with her clit on the way out, rubbing in small circles before going back into her. Her thighs trembled as he took his time with her, bringing her ever so gently to the edge. 

Mikaela grabbed his wrist, taking it away. Panting, she put herself on his hardened cock, and slid down. Barricade held on at her waist. He let her set the pace, rolling her hips fast. She felt him going back to her breasts, playing with her nipples. When she leaned forward, he kissed her along her jawline, sucking at that space on her neck below her ear. 

Mikaela whimpered, frustrated. She was desperate to come, but she wasn’t getting there. She brought her own hand down. Rubbing at her clit as she rode on him, the tension built, but it still didn’t get her there. 

Barricade murmured, “What’s the matter, babe? You’re having a hard time?” He reared up to kiss her, his knuckles brushing against her cheek. “I’m having a real good time. You’re spoiling me, giving me this show first thing in the morning.” He leaned back down. “Here, let me help you out.” 

He brought his hands around to grab her ass. He grinned devilishly at her. When she moved down, he surprised her by thrusting his hips up, slamming her down into him. Mikaela cried out. He let her go, so she moved up. Again, coming back down, he thrust up. Over and over again, he drove up. 

Heat coiled inside her, building and building. When the heat cracked, it shot up her spine, and Mikaela threw her head back. She heard Barricade say, “Whoa!” but barely registered his surprise. Her vision went white for a second, blinding her. When it passed, she took a minute to catch her breath. She savored the orgasm, her inner walls trembling around the hardness within her. 

When she tilted her head back down, Barricade was staring at her with his eyes comically wide. Mikaela looked down at herself and then at him. “What? Did I squirt or something?” 

“No, no,” Barricade shook his head, “nothing like that. It was just a bit...intense.” 

Mikaela quirked a brow. “Are you complaining? I thought you liked intense?” 

“Not ever complaining!” Barricade said a high volume. “No, no, just surprised.” He cupped her cheek. “Don’t suppose I could talk you into a little cable play?” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes. Still, he carried all the way downstairs and out to the parking lot. In the cool morning light, he brought her over to his hood. Mikaela got splayed out on top of the engine cover. She shivered. Barricade was running hot on her back.

Barricade used his holoform to pull out a cable from the undercarriage. She opened her legs wide. 

“Just lay there, sweetspark. Let me make you feel good,” Barricade said as he slid his cable inside her. 

Mikaela whined as he set a slow, deep rocking motion. He leaned down to press kisses along the inside of her thighs, still moving his cable gently. His engine revved under her, and Mikaela moved her hands along his hood. She caressed along the seams, and Barricade growled low against her. 

“Wish I could keep you for a few days, locked up, nowhere to go.” Barricade twisted his cable left and right, and Mikaela bucked her hips up. “I would just frag you over and over and over again until you were pleading for mercy.” 

“Sounds like you thought about it,” Mikaela gasped as he pulled out slow, only to thrust back in hard and quick. 

“Oh, I have. A mech’s gotta dream, you know.” He rose up so he could kiss her, a long lingering mess of a kiss. “Not gonna last much longer.” As he said it, he kept pushing his way in her, making her squirm, caught between the two versions of him. 

He said her name through heavy static, “Mikaela!” 

She felt the transfluid inside her before he shuddered, phased out for a moment. Under her, the engines screeched. Mikaela laid back, closing her eyes. Barricade kissed her up her neck, then across her cheeks. 

“I know you said no interfacing, but mind if I come over tonight? I wanna be with you, as much as I can.” 

Mikaela nodded, a limp puddle in his hands. “I’d like that.” 

* * *

Arcee finally put the finishing touches on the new cell phone. Although she wasn’t a super experienced engineer like Wheeljack, she could manage to throw a tracker into a simple little device. For just in case reasons, Arcee also added a little surprise. 

Storing it in her subspace, Arcee walked down to the hanger where the Autobots were having a meeting. Ratchet just got back from looking over Mikaela. The hanger wasn’t much, just an old emptied out airplane storage unit for cessnas, but they managed to turn it into something that resembled an HQ. Humans milled about, chatting about this mission or that. Off to the right were some ramshackled chairs and a large recycle metal looking table. 

Sideswipe and Ratchet sat across from Optimus, talking in low tones. Arcee decided to sit down beside Sideswipe. 

“I’m worried, Prime. This sounds like a sneak attack to me. Barricade might’ve intended for that to do more damage than it did,” Ratchet’s voice was firm. “She’s trying to stay strong, but that internal bruising isn’t normal with human electronics.” 

Sideswipe leaned forward. “I didn’t find anything wrong with the phone at all, sir. Its components all seemed usual on the scans I did. However, I do regret that I didn’t open it up to take a closer look. I might’ve missed something, maybe.” 

Optimus rubbed at his chin. “Odd, something that released the amount of energy you describe would have to show up on scans, I would imagine. Are you sure it couldn’t have simply been a malfunction of the phone? It was old.” 

“Perhaps, but I doubt it. Phones might explode, but not shoot out electricity. Mikaeal doesn’t exaggerate stories. I believe her.” Ratchet’s voice brooked no argument from the other mecha at the table. 

“I’m not implying she would, old friend. If you’re sure, then perhaps it would be best to establish a guardian with Mikaela immediately.” Optimus turned to Sideswipe. “How did it go up until the incident?” 

“Pretty well?” Sideswipe shrugged and grinned. “I think we had a fun time.”

Arcee glared at him softly. “And yet she ended up needing a nurse.” 

“Hey! I’m telling you, I saw nothing on the scans-!” 

“Calm down, I’m just teasing.” Arcee punched him lightly on his shoulder before turning back to the Prime. “Sir, if you’d like to instate Sideswipe as guardian immediately, I don’t mind. However, I still have to give her the new phone. Allow me to ask her what she prefers?” 

“Permission granted.” Optimus Prime turned to Sideswipe. “I would like you to continue your patrols of the city. Scan for Decepticon energy signatures. If you find Barricade, bring him in immediately.” 

“Yes, sir.” Sideswipe punched his fist into his other hand. “I’ll make that punk pay for messing with her.” 

* * *

Up in the orbit of Earth, Soundwave listened. He focused on calls from NEST bases, as well as some transmissions through the American and Chinese government. They were working under the table on getting a Cybertronian carcass from Egypt to a special location for experimentation. Megatron ordered the site destroyed, leaving no survivors. After his experience with the humans, the leader of the Decepticons wanted no humans to touch his soldiers, dead or alive. 

For the NEST bases specifically, he couldn’t decode all of the encrypted transmissions, especially the ones scrambled through the Autobots. Instead, he tried to catch the unofficial calls through cells phones near and around the base, gathering intelligence from the humans about possible movements. Nine times out of ten it was simple calls to family members, but he noted the soldiers who spoke of things between each other on not so secure channels. 

One of his noted soldiers was making a call, and Soundwave allowed a sub-processor to listen for anything important. At first it was nothing special, just a little about his plans for the weekend with his parents, but then his voice picked up with excitement. 

“Oh yeah and Em, I saw them again! The robots, ya know, they were just sitting around and talking, but still, it was pretty cool. The big guy, I think his name is like Optimal or something, he was talking about bad guy activity in Tranquility City. Do me a favor, don’t go into town for a while, ok?” 

The female named Emily answered, “Ok, I mean I wasn’t really planning on going, but I’ll stick around here then. Do you know if there’s gonna be another big attack? Like there was a few years back?” 

“I don’t think so, it sounded like it was just one bad robot runnin’ around and doing something. I don’t know the details, I got called out of the room.” 

“Ok, well, guess we’ll have to skip the Carnival for sure, I mean it’s not that impressive I guess. How about we go see a movie? I know this one…” 

Soundwave dropped his concentration on the call. Barricade’s movements had been caught by the Autobots. He debated calling the Decepticon scout to alert him, but Barricade wanted radio silence to keep himself protected. If Barricade was in enemy territory and he called in, Soundwave could very well give out Barricade’s position, sealing his fate. 

Better to send another in his place to warn Barricade. He sent a ping out to a mech he knew could get the job done. 

“Laserbeak, deploy to these coordinates.” 

* * *

The Forge was dealing with a bit of a problem. Somehow, someway, they’d managed to use up all their dark violet. Usually, the easiest solution would be to mix blue and red hues until they reached the right tint and be done with it. However, Mel realized as she uncorked the blue that they’d also somehow managed to use up half of their blue stockpile. 

“How have we been using so much?” Mikaela asked, completely flummoxed. “We just started this month!” 

Dani came over with a clipboard. “Well, actually, it kind of makes sense. Order 011 was the butterfly work, and people saw the photo up on Facebook, so we got more requests for work like it on about...fifteen motorcycles and two more cars.”

Mikaela groaned. “There goes the budget sheet, then. I’ll have to go buy more.” 

Nathan put up a hand. “Should we try to push for different colors then? Maybe take some more photos to try and bury the butterflies down on the timeline?” 

“Not a bad idea, actually.” Conroy pulled out his cell phone. “Let’s say we all do like two of our best for today and post?” 

Dani nodded. “Pace them throughout the week using the schedule app. Again, put up photos with warm colors.” 

“Got it.” The boys went off to their stations to start snapping pics. 

Mikaela grabbed Mel’s arm. “Do me a favor and finish putting the shine on the Porsche. I’m going to run over to Dan’s downtown and grab some emergency supplies.”

“No prob, of course.” 

Mikaela grabbed her jacket and bag. She slung the backpack over her shoulders as she jogged quickly over to her bike. She zoomed off into town, considering the speed limits as more guidelines than actual laws.

When she hit the highway, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Turning to look over her shoulder, she found another woman on a pink bike catching up to her. Mikaela grinned inside of her helmet. 

Feeling playful, Mikaela revved her engine and crisscrossed between two cars to pull ahead. Arcee chased after her, going around three cars and a truck with ease. With a small laugh, Mikaela weaved around two trucks following each other and hit the 80 on her speedometer. Arcee pulled up close on her right, her hololight avatar smiling at her. 

Mikaela pointed up at the next exit. Arcee nodded and they turned in sync. As they drove downtown, Mikaela still tried to stay in the lead, even though she knew that really Arcee had the better horsepower in her Cybertronian engines. Still, it was kind of fun to try and lose her tail. 

When they arrived at “Dan’s Auto Detail Shop,” Mikaela took off her helmet and stayed on her bike as Arcee’s holoform walked over to her. She’d changed since Mikaela saw her last. Instead of a brunette, her hair was a bubblegum pink with some red streaks. Instead of a middle aged woman, she looked more like Jennifer Lawrence from the “Hunger Games” era, but with a darker complexion. She wore a pink leather jacket, a black shirt beneath, and some black pants. 

Arcee held out something in her hand. “I got you a new phone, with an added Cybertronian touch.” 

“Oh, thank you!” Mikaela took it in hand. “Did you add in contacts already?” 

“Yes, I downloaded your known family members and friends.” Arcee pointed to the back. “I’ve added a tracker and an alert system. If you should encounter danger, press 111 and it’ll alert us at the NEST HQ.” 

“Wow, I really appreciate this. It’s so fancy.” Mikaela tapped on an app, and gasped. “It’s so clear. Huh, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that mine exploded after all.” 

“Perhaps.” Arcee shifted from foot to foot. “Speaking of, Ratchet has actually told us his worry that it might’ve been an attack from the Decepticons, perhaps Barricade striking back from your rejection?” 

Mikaela froze. Her heartbeat picked up. She tried to keep on a blank face as she asked, “Really? I don’t think so. Ratchet’s just being paranoid, right?” 

“Optimus would rather play it safe than sorry, all the same.” Arcee pulled a hand through her hair and rubbed the back of her neck. “He wants you to choose a guardian. I’m assuming you would prefer Sideswipe, but I wouldn’t mind taking on the role either. Have you made a decision yet?” 

Mikaela shook her head. “No, I haven’t! I thought I’d have more time.” She got off her bike, putting the phone in her pocket. She put a hand on Arcee’s shoulder. “Please, I don’t want to rush this decision. I haven’t even spent any time with you!” Mikaela scrambled to think of other reasons to delay this choice. 

Arcee looked uncomfortable with the hand on her holoform. “If it means so much to you, perhaps I could spend the day with you?”

“Not today!” Mikaela put her hands up and waved them in front of her. “I’ve got way too much to do. How about tomorrow? Fridays and Sundays are my days off, so let’s do that!” 

“I suppose.” Arcee tilted her head to the side, her brows coming together. “Are you alright? You know, if you change your mind about one of us, it would be easy enough to switch. You don’t have to feel so stressed about this.”

“It’s, yeah, I just would rather have a little more time. That’s all.” Mikaela shuffled towards the store. “I gotta go and buy some supplies. Come over at like noon tomorrow and we can hang out, alright?” 

“Very well, Mikaela, I’ll see you then.” Arcee’s concerned frown stayed in place as she said, “Do take care.” 

“I will!” Mikaela walked quickly into the store. She moved to the counter and rang the bell, her thoughts a whirlwind. Shit, shit, shit, what now? She would have to tell Barricade. He would understand, she knew, but it would hurt. Hell, it was hurting her to think that this was it, just a couple of days left. 

Putting a hand to her chest, she wondered why she felt so strongly about this fling. She’d known better than to put any real attachment to it, and yet, here she was. It was never meant to last, but dammit, she wished it could for just a bit longer. 

* * *

Barricade hit the ground running as soon as he left Mikaela’s that morning. He put up cameras and more sensors around the town, just to be ready in case the Decepticons showed up unannounced. He didn’t live this long expecting Soundwave to “just trust” him. 

Barricade reviewed his options. Mikaela needed to be protected, but how? He couldn’t do it, and by the All Spark-

Oh, that was weird to think about, now. By...Mikaela? Primus, this was one of the best and weirdest weeks of his whole long existence. 

He remembered her shining like a beacon when she orgasmed that morning. She didn’t notice, but Barricade got a full frontal view. White lines shone from under her skin, fascinating and glorious all at once. No doubt, it was the energy of the All Spark running through her, possibly her veins? He wasn’t knowledgeable enough on human anatomy in that regard to figure it out.

Primus, at times he wished he could talk to Prowl. He used to be able to bounce ideas off his old partner all the time. Now, all he had was Frenzy. The little symbiote was smart but he would sell out Barricade to Soundwave in a sparkbeat. 

“This is getting me nowhere,” Barricade grumbled to himself. 

He pulled into an abandoned lot on the edge of town, beside an old rusted hollowed out shell of what might’ve once been a boat. He pulled up the scans on his HUD and accessed the files Soundwave sent him. 

It wouldn’t take long for the Decepticons to get wise if Barricade kept stalling on delivering the All Spark fragment. With Soundwave already sure Mikaela must have the fragment, it left Barricade with a definite deadline. He needed to think of a way to give Soundwave a runaround, or he needed to get Mikaela to safety. 

Barricade hated the idea of the Autobots knowing she was the All Spark, too. They’d lock her away, all with the promises of keeping her safe and sound. Both options ended with his femme in a cage, and he didn’t want that for her. Still, he decided if it came down to it, the Autoscum were Plan B. 

He wasn’t above sacrificing another human, actually he was rather upset that the boy was off the list. Not really because of Mikaela’s feelings, but due to the fact that Soundwave already crossed him off the suspect list. Who could he put into the line of fire? Was it even possible? 

In his distracted state, he nearly missed the flicker of metal heading towards him. Barricade got the ping from a sensor of a Decepticon incoming right before he saw Laserbeak descend. His spark thrummed hard as the metallic bird spoke to him. 

“The Autobots know about you in the area, Barricade. They’re on high alert, looking for you. Soundwave requests you make haste!” 

Barricade revved his engine. “I’m being careful, but I can’t rush this mission. We get one change to find this fragment, or they’ll take it before I do.” 

Laserbeak shook out his head. “I know, I know, but Soundwave heard of the Autobots having a meeting. I saw the one they call Sideswipe patrolling the city, and the pink femme Arcee traveling towards the NEST base. It’s only a matter of time before you are discovered.” 

Ah frag it! Looks like Plan B was becoming Plan A. Buncha slaggin’ do-gooders-Fine!

Outwardly, Barricade simply intoned, “Understood and heard. I will hurry.” 

Laserbeak shook out his feathers before prepping for flight. “Take care, Barricade. Soundwave is very invested in your success.” And with that, he lifted off into the air. 

Barricade hated the curl of guilt in his tanks. Soundwave might’ve been a slagger and more likely to punish than praise, but he’d been under the mech’s command for centuries. Despite it all, Barricade considered himself one of the more loyal Decepticons, his very identity intertwined with the symbol on his chassis. 

Betraying his Commander and his fellow soldiers hurt, but times changed. The war destroyed Cybertron, and their last remaining chance for survival was in the tiny form of his brave femme. 

With a grumble, Barricade headed off towards The Forge. He would have to explain to Mikaela the whole thing, and leave no more secrets between them. With any luck, she would call up the Autobots afterwards and secure herself in the NEST HQ. Barricade would take his punishment for failure, even if it meant his deactivation. 

Love made him a terrible fool. 


	6. Revelation

Arcee found Optimus Prime welcoming Red Alert to the NEST HQ security hub. It was one the second floor, above the hanger. Monitors beeped, showing the security feeds all around, and Arcee caught the sight of Cliffjumper walking out of the medbay with Wheeljack and Perceptor. 

The five new Autobots fell into the atmosphere a week ago, but only recently rolled up for inspection. She shifted uneasily in her root mode, moving on the tips of her pedes. Red Alert kept flinching as humans got close to him, so Optimus assured him that the “organics are friendly on base.” Red Alert didn’t look particularly comforted. 

When their talk was over, Optimus nodded in her direction while motioning towards the back room. No humans were in the storage area, so they could talk more freely. Arcee ex-vented heavily, not sure where to start. 

“Did something happen?” Optimus asked. 

“I gave Mikaela the phone and talked with her. She’s still not ready to make a choice.” Arcee tilted her back. “We’re supposed to hang out tomorrow, get to know each other, but Optimus I know a tactical delay when I see one. I don’t think she wants a guardian at all.” 

“Oh?” Optimus’ brow ridges shot up. “I must admit, such a thought never occurred to me. However, it does sound quite possible. She’s used to going it alone, like someone else I know.” 

“Yes, yes, I know.” Arcee smiled at him and pushed a fist softly to one of his massive arms. “I’m awful at asking for backup, and I think Mikaela is, too. I think we might have to end up forcing her hand.” 

Optimus frowned, clearly unhappy at the idea. “I would rather allow her the choice.” 

“Optimus, if Barricade did attack her, and if the Decepticons know she’s no longer affiliated with Sam, they might target her just because they can. They might assume we’ll go lax on our security with her. They don’t know about her training with Ratchet, right?” Arcee waved a hand, motioning to the base at large. “And not even most of the humans know she was that kind of asset. We need to protect her, and a guardian is a sure-fire way to keep her safe.” 

Optimus Prime glanced at the security hub, then back to Arcee. “All very true. However, if Mikaela is forced to take on a guardian, especially one she doesn’t like, I see only resentment and an unwillingness to cooperate. Spend time with her tomorrow, and when it’s over, ask her to make a final decision. If she does not wish for a guardian at all, we will respect her wishes.” 

Arcee shook her head. “Please, Optimus, we can’t just abandon her!” 

“We won’t.” Optimus’ grin turned into a cheeky smirk. “I don’t suppose you saw the log of all the Autobots that came to Earth?” 

“No, why?” Arcee said, confused. 

“Mirage is inbound.” 

Arcee rolled her optics. “Oh, of course.” With his cloaking skills, no doubt Mirage would be a perfect not-really-a-guardian. He’d be able to ghost Mikaela easily, unable to be seen by either Autobot or Decepticon sensors. “That makes sense.” 

“Glad you approve.” Optimus put a hand on her shoulder. “But truly Arcee, I think you would’ve been the best candidate for her security detail. Keep trying, and hopefully it won’t come to underhanded maneuvers.” 

* * *

At her garage, Mikaela was doing inventory with Nathan while Conroy and Danni uploaded new pics to Facebook and Twitter. They were scheduling posts to go out with the variety of colors, which would hopefully solve their purple color issue. Dan was nice enough to give Mikaela an emergency discount and laughed at her over the rookie mistake. 

They had enough new supplies to get through the month if no one wanted something big and flashy again. Nathan gave her his clipboard and helped count off with her on colors and number totals. When they were done, they went to Danni’s desk and she put them into the system. 

“Alrighty, we’re good,” Danni announced about an hour later. “It looks like we somehow lost track of two case loads of purple, which is really weird.” 

“What?” Mikaela looked over her shoulder. “But how?” 

“No idea,” Danni turned to Nathan and Conroy. “Don’t suppose either one of you is moonlighting?” 

“Haha, you’re hilarious,” Conroy said as he rolled his eyes. “Nah, we didn’t take the stuff, besides those cases are fuckin’ heavy. You can’t just walk out with them.” 

“And we’ve got bikes, so does Mel. Those cases are way too big for the back trunks we’ve got.” Nathan pointed over to his Suzuki with its mini-trunk on the tail end. 

“Fair point,” Danni said. “And I don’t even know how to detail things, I’m a business and management student, yo.” 

Mikaela’s brow furrowed. Who would steal cases of purple paint? She highly doubted Barricade would bother since his Decepticon seal was engraved. So...who? She said while thinking aloud, “Maybe my dad came over to borrow some and forgot to write a slip?” 

“Doubt it.” Everyone said it nearly all at once. Cal Banes was the kind of man who would not only leave slips but did his inventory religiously.

Mikaela gave up. “We’ll track it down eventually.” She racked her brain, trying to think. Did she move the cases somewhere? It was so strange. 

Everyone left, Mikaela promising them overtime pay for staying late. When they were gone, she locked up and started her search. In the office, up and down all the shelves, and even going down to the Teletran-E2 area. Nothing, no cases anywhere. What the hell? 

Barricade appeared in the garage as Mikaela was up on a ladder, looking up on a higher shelf she never used. 

“What’cha doing there?” Barricade asked as he walked over to the bottom of the rungs to hold it steady. 

“Looking for two damn case loads of purple paint!” Mikaela sighed in frustration and made her way down. “Don’t suppose you noticed anyone coming in and out at night?” 

“Nope, and I haven’t been recharging out here. I keep watch while you sleep.” Barricade moved to let her to get off the ladder.

“This is so annoying,” Mikaela said as she stomped a foot. “I just got started and somehow I must’ve lost them. They’re not cheap, ya know!” 

“I know.” Barricade wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tight. “You’ve been working so hard. Don’t beat yourself up over this.” 

Mikaela hesitated, but then hugged him back. “I just want this to work so badly.”

Barricade kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, I know.” He squeezed her tighter. “Babe, do you want to come with me somewhere? Get away for a bit and clear your head?” 

Mikaela lifted her head, putting her chin against his chest. “My head doesn’t hurt anymore, if that’s what you’re worried about?” 

“I figure since you got all up on me this morning.” Barricade pecked her on the lips. “But I mean let’s just get out for a bit. Come on, I know a place.” 

After grabbing some snacks for the road, Mikaela put herself in Barricade’s passenger side and they were off. Barricade turned on the radio to her favorite rock station and she sang along sometimes. She told him about the emergency run to Dan’s and getting her new phone. 

Barricade didn’t talk as much, just nodded along and asked a question here or there. When they finally got to an abandoned lot out in the middle of nowhere, Mikaela brought out her food and munched. 

“So...you gonna tell me what’s wrong?” Mikaela asked. “You’ve been distracted like the whole time?” 

Barricade nodded, but didn’t say anything for a long while. He pointed up to the sky, bright and vibrant with stars. As he tapped on his windshield, a display popped up, and a golden little light shone around a star high up. 

“This is Cybertron’s sun. It’s light is fading, but like the glory of our planet.” Barricade made a line with his finger, stopping at a different star. “Here’s the first system to fall to Decepticon control. The Autobots had fled, but they didn’t seize territory or nothin’. They just kept hiding while we kept destroying.” 

He drew three squiggly lines to three other clusters. “Starscream ordered raids to try and find them. We eliminated a lot of planets and a whole galaxy in order to find one or two missing bots.” Barricade went back to Cybertron. “Meanwhile, without the All Spark, Cybertron descended into a dark, desolate place. I was here, mostly, trying to rebuild Praxis into a new Decepticon city.” He shook his head. “We failed.”

More lines appeared, then turned red, some disappeared, all over and over again, until the lines all converged on the horizon. “Everything ended up coming down to finding the All Spark on Earth. Without it, our world was never going to be reborn. When Sam thrust the cube into Megatron, I thought it was all over.” 

He turned to Mikaela. “But we were wrong. The All Spark had two fragments, and within those fragments held a key to possibly remaking our planet. You know about the one in Egypt.” He sighed. “But the other one I didn’t even know about until I got my new mission this week.” 

Mikaela put her snacks on the dash, leaning towards him. “Where do you think it is? Who do you think has it?” Barricade stared at her, and Mikaela’s stomach knotted up. “What?” 

“I think it was in your phone. It’s the same one from Mission City, right?” Barricade explained as he lightly touched her arm and then her chest. “The All Spark itself is just metal, but it’s living energy. I think the electricity that hit you was the All Spark going into you, like it did to Sam.” 

Mikaela froze. “Wait, but…” She shook her head. “Wouldn’t they have found it on the scans? Wouldn’t they have seen it? I’m so confused.” 

“Most scans are set to look for specific bio-signatures or Decepticon energy. Unless they knew to look for remnants of the All Spark, they probably wouldn’t find anything wrong.” Barricade took her hands and squeezed them. “Babe, you were glowing this morning, when you came. I might not know much about humans, but I’m pretty sure that’s not normal.” 

It hit her. The All Spark, inside of her? But, that was crazy! Mikaela kept shaking her head. “I’m human, why would it come to me?” 

Barricade shrugged. “No one knows how the All Spark functions, not really. We know it can create life, spark a new Cybertronian into being, but there’s a consciousness in it, too. I don’t know why you, Mikaela, but I think you’ve been chosen to keep its energy safe.”

“I-I-I need air.” Mikaela flung herself back to get the door handle. She got out of the car, stumbling out into the open. Putting her hands up, she pressed them to her temples, trying to contain her swirling thoughts. Her, the All Spark? No way, she couldn’t be, she just couldn’t! 

But even as she tried to stay in denial, it made sense. Electricity that didn’t burn her, the lightning that escaped from it...Her dreams. 

Mikaela turned around to face the car, and the hololight form of Barricade looked at her with deep concern. She asked, “Is there anything in the legends about Solus in the All Spark?”

Barricade nodded. “Yeah, there’s a story. The Fallen took his lover’s frame to the All Spark at Vector Sigma, demanding her to be brought back to life. Instead, it took the last pulses of her spark away, leaving her frame old and gray.”

Miakela wrapped her arms around herself. Tears started to well up in her eyes. “And what’s your mission, Barricade?” She shook, knowing, but not wanting it to be true. “Tell me.”

He closed his eyes. “I’m supposed to bring you to Lord Megatron.” He shook his head. “But I can’t. I can’t do it. Even if I could, what good would it do?” He waved his hands at the stars. “We destroyed our chances over and over again. The Decepticons aren’t going to save Cybertron, it’s gone.” 

Tears trailed down Mikaela’s cheeks. “You really aren’t going to take me away? You aren’t going to let Megatron get his hands on me?” 

“No, never.” Barricade walked over to her, grabbing at her shoulders. “With you, for the first time in eons, I have hope. It’s a small hope, but it’s a good one. Those Autobrats might be idealistic idiots, but they’ll protect you. They won’t...do things to you.” 

Shaking, Mikaela started to really cry. “I don’t want to be the All Spark. I just want to be me.” 

“I’m sorry, sweetspark, I’m so sorry.” He brought her into his arms. “I wish I could change it all for you, but I can’t.” 

Mikaela sobbed into his chest. She grabbed hold of his police jacket, desperate for solid ground. For a long while, she just let herself break. It wasn’t fair! Why did this happen to her? Her family, her friends, everyone she loved was now in danger, because of some stupid old phone! 

Barricade said comforting words against her forehead, and at first Mikaela heard just Cybertronian nonsense, but then…

In front of her eyes, behind closed lids, golden and silver glyphs appeared. Slowly, like piecing together a puzzle, her mind put the glyphs together. Her cries turned into sniffles. What was this? They looked like the symbols Sam drew, the ones on the Autobots plating, what-?

“I love you, I love you, I’ll keep you safe, I promise, I promise on my spark, I love you…”

Mikaela sucked in a breath. She pushed herself away to stare at him in shock. Barricade put his hands up in surrender. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Barricade asked, confused. 

“You love me?” Mikaela asked. 

“You understood me?!” Barricade practically screamed. “Um, I, yes? But you weren’t supposed to hear that, ah frag-.” 

“I can understand you.” Mikaela cupped his face. “Say something else, in Cybertronian.” 

“Uh…” Barricade looked away, caught off guard. He mumbled, “Technically I’m speaking Praxian?” 

“Holy shit,” Mikaela wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hands. “I can see the glyphs in my eyes, it’s so weird.” 

Barricade’s eyes widened. “Sam was losing his mind with the glyphs, but you’re not. No pain? Nothing?”

“No, it’s...flowing.” Mikaela touched her temples. “It doesn’t hurt, it’s just weird.” 

“Still, I think we should get you to the Autobots, Mikaela.” 

“Wait, no, not tonight, please.” Mikaela grabbed on his arms. “Not now. Let me make a plan, let me get stuff together, please? Give me one more day.” 

“Every minute is a risk.” Barricade said, trying to get her to see reason. “I promised Soundwave an update, and he won’t take no for an answer. If he thinks I’ve failed, he’ll send another Decepticon, someone he knows will get the job done. That won’t be a stealth mission.” 

“As soon as Optimus knows, then that’s it! I’m locked up in NEST. I’m not allowed to leave. I can’t just disappear on everyone in my life. Let me at least say goodbye, please.” Mikaela brought his head down and kissed him. She pressed herself against him, knowing it was a dirty move, but she needed to make him understand. “Please, please just give me a day.” 

“Primus, femme,” Barricade’s hands roamed her body. “Fine, a day, but no more.” 

Mikaela kissed him harder. She murmured against his lips. “I changed my mind. If this is it, if this is the last night, come on. Let’s do it. All of it. Please!”

Barricade kissed her back, adding nips and bites. “Yes, yes, anything for you.” 

Mikaela tugged him over to the car. She got inside where it was warm. Barricade phased in after her, clothes gone. She got undressed in record time, nearly hitting her head on the top of the car. Both the front seats went backwards, and Barricade lunged at her. 

It was messy, rough, fast. Mikaela held onto him as he drove into her. She didn’t want sweet or gentle; she just didn’t want to think! She urged him on, murmuring, “Harder, faster, please!” It wasn’t really about the sex. It was about her, alive, in her own skin. 

“My femme, mine, so good,” Barricade said against her skin. Mikaela could see the glyphs scrolling across her vision. “You’re perfect, so perfect.” 

“I need more,” Mikaela said. “Please, more.” 

Barricade growled and flipped her over. Mikaela cried out as she ended up face first in his leather interior. He put his legs around hers, trapping her. She tried to spread out, but couldn’t. When he managed to squeeze between her legs to get inside her, she made a high fractured noise. 

She clawed at the seat beneath her. He rode her hard, and she could feel him sliding wetly between her thighs. He held her by her hips and ass so she stayed still for him. 

“You want me to get real mean, babe? I don’t want to hurt you too bad, but I think you could take a little spanking. What do ya say?” 

Mikaela looked at him over her shoulder. “Yes, yes, but not-ah-not super hard.”

Barricade grinned at her. He smacked her on her ass, more of a love tap than a real hit. Mikaela gasped, tried to move her hips back into his thrusts, but couldn’t. Barricade smacked her on her other cheek twice. On each side, he would land a few small slaps against her skin, then switch. Mikaela moaned. The stings helped, somehow, to center her. 

“There we go,” Barricade got more heavy handed, bringing his hands down with force, his hips snapping against her ass, “come on, come on, come for me.”

The pain mingled with her pleasure, it helped, but she wasn’t getting there. Heat coiled inside of her, tension built, yet she knew she wasn’t getting there. Mikaela squirmed, kept whimpering against his seat, frustrated. 

“Babe?” Barricade stopped moving, and Mikaela shook her head. 

“I need you, please, again, just keep going-,” Mikaela pleaded. 

“I’m getting close. Can I put you on my gearshift or get a cable?” He pulled out of her to lean back. 

“Yes!” Mikaela let him pick her up. 

He settled her in the space between the two seats. She was confused, still facing away. Barricade kissed her along her shoulders. “Just hold on,” he said, “I’m going to try something.” She heard the sound of a transformation sequence. When she looked over her shoulder, the gearshift uplink was tilted ninety degrees, where the cassette and CD player used to be. 

Barricade pulled her back, gently penetrating her with his gearshift. He kissed the back of her ear and asked, “You want it hard, right babe? Because with this I can really hammer into you. Up for it?” 

Mikaela nodded vigorously. “I can take it. I want it.” 

“Ok,” he kissed her deep, “you asked for it.”

Mikaela nearly fell onto her face as the gearshift pumped into her. She screamed as it thrust, thrust, thrust inside of her at a rapid pace. Yes, this was it, this is what she needed. She locked her body in place, letting Barricade fuck her deep and hard. She brought a hand down to rub at her clit. 

Barricade came, she could feel his transfluid fill her up, but he didn’t stop thrusting. Mikaela frantically rubbed at her clit, oh-so close, finally! 

Her orgasm hit HARD, and she heard Barricade cry out as her whole vision blanked out. Several glyphs crossed in front of her in quick succession, a voice whispered from within her, an ancient chant from a forgotten ritual. Something left her, a piece of her. 

When her vision returned, she blinked to get rid of the white in the corners of her eyes. She looked around for Barricade’s hololight form. She’d somehow gotten off the gearshift, splayed out now over the two seats. She lifted herself up. 

“Barricade? What happened?” she asked. 

“I...I have no idea.” Barricade’s voice sounded shaky. “You shocked me, like a Cybertronian might. I wasn’t expecting it. But...it was different.” 

“Are you alright?” Mikaela asked. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“No? My diagnostic scans don’t read damage.” His hololight form appeared on the driver’s side. “I feel odd, though.” 

“I’m sorry,” Mikaela said, taking hold of his arm. 

“Don’t be! No, sweetspark, it’s alright. I’m fine.” Barricade brought her into his lap. “It was just a little surprising, that’s all.” He kissed her on her forehead, then laughed a little.

“What’s so funny?” Mikaela asked. 

“Nothing important. There’s a curse that doesn’t translate well into English, but it does something like, frag the All Spark! But that’s not quite accurate. Well, I just did it.” 

Mikaela rolled her eyes, but snuggled in closer to him. “Glad one of us finds it hilarious.”

Barricade nuzzled against her cheek. “It’s gonna be ok, Mikaela. I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

She nodded, but didn’t say anything. Her whole world was about to change, and she hated it. Just as she finally carved out something good, this All Spark decided to take it all away. Barricade was nice, but she couldn’t rely on him alone to protect her. 

Luckily, in the depths of The Forge, there were a few little secrets left to use. 


	7. Fortify

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! I am on a small break and I'm trying to finish this fic up ASAP! 
> 
> This chapter is shorter, but trust me, that's because a lot is gonna happen in the next one.

Chapter Seven: Fortify

Soundwave stared at the paint cases in his hands. “Laserbeak, explain.” 

“It was the oddest thing,” Laserbeak said while shaking his feathers. “When I went to find Barricade my sensors went off. I went to something the humans called a mechanic shop, where the Banes girl is located. I found two canisters of something with residual All Spark energy.” 

Soundwave nodded, processing the information. “Before you saw Barricade?” 

“Yes, indeed.” Laserbeak fluffed up his metal plating. "He said that he didn't detect the presence of the All Spark in his reports so far?" 

Soundwave went silent. Laserbeak didn't bother to ask more questions. They both knew the odds of Barricade missing something this vital.

"He did press that he needed time, that he was trying to be careful." Laserbeak finally said, uncomfortable with Soundwave glaring at the cases in his hand. 

Soundwave set the cases down on a terminal. "Perhaps Barricade is too proud to ask for backup, or does not think it possible for some reason to reclaim the All Spark at this moment.” 

Laserbeak lifted up and landed on Soundwave's shoulder pauldron. “With the Autobots snooping around, he might fear an intel leak as well. Perhaps he fears comms are compromised.” 

Soundwave kept glaring at the cases. “Barricade knows that my comms are secure. I will send a backup team to be on standby.” 

“Might I make a suggestion?” Laserbeak waited for the nod of assent before he said, “Don’t send in the competition. He might feel pressured to act quickly, and that could lose us the All Spark. Send in ground forces, vehicles that can hide in the trees close to Banes’ domicile.” 

Soundwave keyed up his comms. Breakdown and Knockout were on rotation for a patrol. Perfect. Frenzy’s systems needed a check-up anyways. He got a ping in his carrier protocols a few solar cycles ago about an energy lag. With any luck, all the Decepticons would return to base in good shape and with an All Spark in hand. 

* * *

Barricade brought Mikaela home around eleven. She expected for her body to be angry with her again in the morning, but surprisingly, it wasn’t. As she walked around her loft to get ready for the day, she was actually just ravenous? Strange. 

She had eaten four eggs and two bowls of cereal when she went back to the tiny kitchen for an apple. Barricade noticed her appetite, following her into the cramped space. 

“Is it because you didn’t eat much last night?” Barricade asked. 

Mikaela shook her head. “Never been this hungry before, ever.” She grabbed a loose hair tie on the counter and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She decided to wear her long black cargo pants with a long sleeve red shirt. “I think it might be because of the All Spark. I’m burning up calories with it inside me and my body is trying to keep up.” 

“Makes sense.” Barricade watched as Mikaela started putting granola bars inside of her cargo pockets. “Do you really think those will be enough?” 

“Probably not, but they’re the only portable thing I’ve got right now.” She grabbed an apple and chomped a big bite out of it. 

“Slow down there, you don’t wanna purge.” Barricade came over to wrap his arms around her waist. “So, Arcee comes at noon, then what?” 

Mikaela put her apple down on the counter and put her hands loosely on his shoulders. “I’m going to go with her back to NEST HQ tonight. First, I’m going to get my dad and tell him to watch the garage for a while. He knows about Teletran, and he can stay down in the safehouse.” 

“Good idea,” Barricade shifted awkwardly, “if I was going to try and get you, I would take your dad as a hostage.” 

“I figured, so I’ll keep him safe. You told them I broke up with Sam, so he’s not going to be on their radar, right?” 

Barricade considered it, but shook his head. “I doubt it, but he could be used against the Prime and his cohorts? Unlikely if they’re targeting you specifically.” 

“Would they hurt you?” Mikaela asked, cupping his face. “I don’t want you to get killed either.”

“Don’t worry, Soundwave will punish me for this failure, but no one knows about us. I will try to set up some kind of distraction. If I can get caught on a patrol, maybe get into a fight with an Autobot and lose? I’ll think of something, but I’ll survive.” Barricade leaned down to kiss her, a long firm kiss, meant to steal her breath away. 

Mikaela broke it to murmur against his lips. “Don’t die, please. If you got killed because of me I don’t know how I’d ever live with myself.” 

“You will live, Mikaela,” Barricade said, fierce in his conviction. “And if I deactivate, you’re going to mourn and move on. That’s an order.” 

“But I love you, and I just got you.” Mikaela pulled him into a strong hug. “I’m not going to lose anyone if I can help it.” 

Barricade kissed the top of her head, but then a tense silence fell over them. Mikaela didn’t understand how she was just supposed to let go, knowing she might never see him again? It felt like that day her dad went with the cops and whispered in her ear that he’d be right back. It ripped her apart to lose him for years, but he came back. Barricade could drive off into the horizon and that would be the last she ever saw of him. 

“Mikaela, promise me you’ll keep yourself safe. Don’t be a hero, don’t get out some blowtorch and face some Decepticon head on.” 

Mikaela laughed into his chest. “It was one time.” 

“No, it wasn’t, you forget Wheelie-.”

“Oh, yeah…” 

“Mikaela, I’m serious. You are literally the most important person in the universe. Lord Megatron wouldn’t have you killed, but he would try to find a way to...utilize the All Spark within you.” 

“I know.” Mikaela shivered at the thought, well, thoughts of Megatron getting his servos on her. She could already see it, the torture he would do, giving her over to the mech she’d never seen but heard nothing good about: Shockwave. A terrible scientist with no moral compass, only the Decepticon cause behind him. “I’ll never let them have me.” 

“So you promise?” Barricade pushed. 

“I promise to get to safety, no matter what,” Mikaela said, not wanting to lie to him.

Barricade sighed. “My strong, stubborn femme, my light, please just stick to the plan.” 

* * *

At the NEST Base, Optimus Prime pressed a hand to his chest. The Matrix of Leadership pulsed in his chestplates, catching him off guard. The last time it felt active was in Egypt. It didn't come to life often these days, and those times were when Optimus communed with it to ask for advice from the Primes of old. 

“I’m off Optimus,” Arcee said, startling him out of his thoughts. 

Optimus put his hand down and turned to give her a warm smile. “Good. I hope it goes well. I’m sure you and Mikaela will get along.” 

Arcee shrugged. “Beats looking at Sideswipe’s face all day.” 

“I HEARD THAT!” was yelled from across the hanger. 

Optimus waved her off. “Be safe, and don’t get in trouble with the Earth authorities.” 

“Yes, sir,”Arcee said with a roll of her optics. She transformed into her motorcycle mode and drove away. 

Just as Optimus was about to ask what that was about to the ancient relic in his chest compartment, he received a call. The glyphs for "Sam" appeared on his HUD and he immediately picked up the call. 

"Hello, Sam, how have you-?"

"Hey, Optimus, uh, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but you need to pick up Mikaela. She's in trouble. I can't explain it, but I keep having these dreams from Egypt, and she's always dying in them! Optimus, they're coming for her, I don't know why, but they are. Please, please, just go get her, she blocked my number, but she'll listen to you." 

Optimus interrupted, "Sam, breathe. Arcee is going out to meet with Mikaela right now. She will be protected, I promise." 

"That's not enough. Optimus, you don't understand, the dream is always the same. I'm running towards her, I don't make it, and that Fallen guy? He puts a spear through her, like through her chest! I watch her die. Optimus, it's exactly the same, and she's gone." 

Optimus turned to wave a hand for Sideswipe to come over. Sideswipe stopped talking with Wheeljack and immediately rushed to his side. "Alright, Sam, just to be safe I will send another to aid Arcee. Don't worry, we'll protect her, I promise." 

Sam made a broken sound over the line. "I still care about her, I do, I know I messed up, but I don't want her to die." 

"I know, Sam, I'll do everything in my power to keep her from harm." 

Sideswipe nodded when Optimus sent him orders over comms. He transformed into a silver car to speed out the base like Unicron was behind him. Optimus stayed on the line with Sam, trying to calm him down.

He almost didn't notice when Wheeljack started staring and pointing at his chest. When Optimus looked down, between the seams of his windshield bright light was filtering through. 

The Matrix wasn't just active, it was awake. 

* * *

Leaving Mikaela was the hardest thing Barricade ever had to do. They crushed each other in a desperate embrace out in the driveway. She kept getting on tiptoes to kiss him. He finally forced himself to break away with another soft, "I love you," in Cybertronian. He phased away his hololight form and drove off down the road. 

Barricade searched on his sensors for the Autobot patrol as he drove to the outskirts of town. Something felt off, but he couldn’t quite place why. Just as he got off the highway, he got a ping from Knock Out. Confused, he answered the comm. 

[Hey there, big boy. Pull into that parking lot on the right and pop out Frenzy. Soundwave said he needed a check up.]  
  
[What?] Barricade felt his energon lines freeze.

[Don’t panic. We’re just here to help.] Knock Out said in a sing-song voice. 

[We?] Just as he said it, the tell-tale paint job of Knock Out’s flashy red coat into his rearview mirror. The Aston Martin Decepticon was cruising with his conjunx edura behind him. The dark blue Hummer styled vehicle had a slit down the top canopy, no doubt for a pop-up machine gun. 

Slag, slag, slag! Barricade pulled into the parking lot as ordered. It was an abandoned lot for an old outlet mall. Barricade led the way around back to get them out of sight of the main road. Knock Out and Breakdown followed right behind him. 

As soon as he transformed to alt mode, he fell down to one knee. Knock Out and Breakdown were medics, sure, but they were also his superiors in the chain of command. Knock Down transformed and smirked. 

“While I do love a mech on his knees before me, let’s not waste time. Get me Frenzy, would you?” 

Barricade nodded. The symbiote popped out from his compartment and landed with ease on his feet. Unlike the other day, the little scamp looked fine, running up to Knock Out with a pep in his step and everything. Knock Down picked him up easily. His other hand cycled from servo to saw to welder to finally settling on a scanner. He slowly moved it up and down while Frenzy practically buzzed with energy. 

“Huh,” Knock Out titled his helm. “How strange. He’s at full power.” Knock out glowered at Barricade. “I thought the Decepticons were operating with rations?” 

“We are…” Barricade’s processor whirled. Mikaela’s energy from last night! He scrambled for a believable lie. “But, I output energy to Frenzy to make sure he stays at peak operation. I need him for this mission. He is vital to its success.” 

Frenzy bounced from leg to leg and said, “Yeah, yeah, the boss bot keeps me in tip-top shape!” 

Knock Out glared at him. “Really? Because Soundwave reported an energy lag in your systems. Carrier protocols don’t lie.” 

Frenzy shrugged, not bothered. “A bug? A glitch?”

Barricade frantically thought back to that day Frenzy wasn’t doing well. He did a scan and nothing showed up! What did he miss? 

Knock Out’s gaze turned to Barricade. “Most likely he picked up something from your system, then.” He placed Frenzy down on the ground. “Come here, Barricade.” 

With a deep in-vent of air, Barricade stepped forward. It would be fine. Interfacing wasn’t something a scanner would pick up, right? Otherwise he would’ve gotten notifications about it before, right? Barricade waited as Knock Out’ scanner roamed over his frame from his helm to his pedes. Surely, it would be fine. 

* * *

Mikaela called Conroy, Nathan, Mel, and Danni into the office for an emergency meeting when everyone arrived. She locked the door and slammed a button down on the wall that had been hiding as a fake fire alarm. 

“Ok, we’re initiating Teletran security protocol Phase 1. Decepticons have been spotted in the area. All of you will be working in The Forge, but come six o’clock, everyone goes down into the bunker following Danni. Understood?” 

“Fuck, that didn’t take long.” Conroy grabbed Nathan’s hand. “Are we in any danger right now?” 

“Not that I know of. I’m grabbing my dad to get in the bunker with you. Until we get the all clear, you’ll have to live down there.” 

Mel nodded. “I’ll get my glock from my bike.” 

“They’re giant alien robots, Melinda, not gang bangers!” Nathan yelled. “Lord, I need a drink.” 

“Same, but after work, ok?” Conroy said as he squeezed his partner’s hand. “It’s not going to be like Mission City. We’re ready this time, and we’ve got a bunker.” 

“Also, an entire Autobot army just a drive away,” Danni added helpfully. “Phase 1 means that Teletran is on alert for Decepticon’s incoming, right?” 

“Exactly, so if Teleltran rings out an alarm, drop everything and get in the bunker. If there are customers, grab them if you have time.” Mikaela picked up her backpack. “I’m not going to be long. If you feel the need to, call your families, get them here.” 

“Are the Decepticons attacking the city?” Mel asked. 

“No, they’re coming for something else that I have on me.” Mikaela decided not to share she was the Cybertronian’s last chance at making more robot babies. “I’ll be leaving for NEST as soon as my dad is safe.” 

“Can’t you just call him to come here?” Danni asked. “If they’re after you, wouldn’t it make more sense for him to just join us at this shop?” 

“I usually go to my dad’s on my off days. It’s my routine, and they’ve been watching me. If I deviate from the routine, they’ll notice.” Mikaela had Barricade to thank for that logic. “I also promised Arcee that I would spend the day with her, so that’s what I’ll do. I’ll pretend to do everything normally, then I’ll go to NEST at night.” 

Danni frowned. “Ok, if you’re sure.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Mikaela was also sure that Barricade needed more time to cause a distraction. He said he would text her as soon as he made one happen, and nothing was popping up on her new phone. Biting her lip, Mikaela hoped he was alright. 

* * *

Red Alert shouting actually made Ironhide jump. “Teletran-E2 is at Phase 1! Decepticons detected in the area.” 

“Ah, slag.” Ironhide turned to Optimus. “Looks like Same wasn’t wrong. I’m gonna grab the others.” 

“And quickly. Barricade must be making his move.” Optimus called out to the humans in the hanger. “Decepticons spotted near Tranquility! We are elevating to level orange.” 

Captain Lennox started shouting. “You heard him! Move to battle stations. Get your shit and get moving. Go!” 

The soldiers scattered. Red Alert froze as many humans flooded into the control center to man any empty computers. The chatter of people on headsets became a constant buzz of activity. Below, other soldiers geared up. Ironhide transformed to help in his alt mode move heavy artillery into position. 

Optimus called Mikaela on the cell line. 

She answered on the first ring. “Hey, big guy. Guess you got the message?” 

“Indeed, I did.” Optimus kept his voice calm. “I’m assuming Barricade?” 

“Yeah, but it’s complicated. I have something, I don’t want to say what over the phone, just in case, but I’ll explain everything when I come to NEST tonight.” 

“Mikaela, this is going to sound strange, but I think you should come to NEST right away. Arcee and Sideswipe are heading towards you right now. They can pick you up and take you here.” 

“What? No! Optimus, my routine is going to my dad’s place. I don’t want the Decepticons to think anything is up. If they notice my change in routine, they’ll get suspicious.” 

“Mikaela, I would rather you come back here as soon as you can. I know you want to protect your father, but I can send another Autobot to retrieve him. We have more mecha here than we did before. If you have something the Decepticons want, I would rather you be safe and here.” 

He heard a long pause and sigh on the other end of the line. “Ok, I guess, ok. When Arcee arrives, I’ll just go.” 

“Thank you. I’ll tell Mirage to get your father and put him at the garage. Call him and I’ll call Sam. We’ll get everyone to safety.” 

* * *

Knock Out’s face had scrunched up. Well, that wasn’t a good fragging sign. The red Decepticon did the scan again, apparently wanting to double check the results. 

“Well, well,” Knock Out started laughing, “you’ve been busy. Congratulations!” 

“What?” Barricade asked. 

“Who’s the lucky sire? Don’t tell me, is it Soundwave?” Knock Out grimaced. “Actually, don’t tell me if it is, I don’t need to know that kind of detail about our dear commander.” 

“What are you talking about?” Barricade asked. 

“You’re sparked, and not long ago, too. Good job, you managed to have the first Decepticon sparkling in ages…” 

The ringing in Barricade’s audials dialed up to an eleven. His processor could not accept the new conditions, even as he knew it to be true. Mikaela, the All Spark, the bringer of life, and he, together, and therefore, NO! 

Knock Out kept talking, “Thought we’d never see another one, honestly, given how there’s no All Spark. It’s rare to get it done the old fashioned way. When did you last spark merge? Who was it? Coding? I need to know to get your emergence plan in order.” 

“I...I…I’m not sparked, what?” Barricade stared down at his chestplates. “I’m not...no way?” 

“Uh-oh, Barricade?” Knock out reached out to grab for him. 

Barricade’s vision split into bars of static. “I can’t be sparked, I just can’t. That’s impossible, you can’t, I can’t?” 

“Breakdown! I need assistance. He’s going down.” 

Barricade wobbled left and right before Knock Out grabbed him. Breakdown rushed quickly to his side, settling him down into a flat position. Barricade groaned as Knock Out’s hand cycled to a syringe. 

“I’m going to give you a nanite booster. You could just be hit with shock from the news, or it could be the little spark inside you is already eating up minerals.” Knock Out grinned. “Don’t fret. I’ll leave the fainting out of the report!”

Breakdown sighed. “Cade, listen. When you’re feeling better, we do gotta talk about one more thing.” 

Knock Out slapped his partner’s side. “Soundwave said secrecy!” 

“Yeah, but he’s carrying now. That’s gotta change things, right? He can’t be on a mission while carrying, yeah?” 

Knock Out rolled his optics. “Fine. Barricade, we’re also here to help you get the All Spark. Sound good?” 

Barricade’s vision sputtered more static and he groaned. 


End file.
